Past Full of Skeletons
by ndakatms
Summary: The past of a Third Watch officer catches up with her, making everyone question how well they know her, and leaving her rushing to set things right. Please let me know what you think by submitting a review when you've read it! Thanks and ENJOY!
1. Chapter 1

Thanks for your interest in my Third Watch fanfic. I hope you enjoy reading it. As with most fanfic writers, I love feedback of any kind – be it praise or criticism. Let me know what you think.

Just so that you're aware, this story most likely takes place in the second or third seasons, however, it does not coincide with any episode or timeline in particular. I just used the characters and locations from those seasons. Continuity is not going to be 100%.

Also, at first read this may come across a little on the Mary Sue side, but if you give it a chance, I'm sure you'll see that it's more than that.

I am nearly through writing this fanfic. Rather than post the entire thing at once, however, I'll post a chapter or two every week or so. This is so that I can proof and fine tune things as I post, as well as create a little suspense for you, the reader. So add this story to your update list or check back regularly.

Okay, enough from me… Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 1

At four fifty-two, Tuesday afternoon, a New York Police Department Radio Motor Patrol unit pulled up in front of Esquina Mercado, which was, aptly, a small convenience store on the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 121st Street. A few moments later, two of New York City's finest climbed out.

Officer Faith Yokas pushed a stray strand of light brown hair behind her ear and looked over the hood of the RMP at her partner, Officer Terrisa Marie Swensen. Faith's regular partner, Officer Maurice Boscorelli, was on administrative leave because of a recent shooting. Rather than make her ride a desk until Bosco was able to return to duty, Lieutenant Robert Swersky had paired Faith with Terri in Five-Five-David and they'd been riding together for the last two days. She and Terri had become very close friends over the past few years and Faith enjoyed working with her. "So - what'd you think?" Faith asked, closing the passenger-side door.

Terrisa, or Terri as everyone called her, had been with the NYPD for seven years, all of them at the Fifty-Fifth Precinct. She stood five foot eight, had long brown hair, usually tied up in a bun, and pale green eyes. She was slight of build, but could handle herself and was always quick with a smile. She made friends easily and was respected by most everyone who met her, including, oddly enough, most of the criminals she dealt with regularly. "Lunch says its two kids under ten who got caught boosting bubble gum," Terri said.

They had gotten a call about a shoplifter about three minutes ago, just as they were wrapping up their forth call of the shift, a false alarm at a pawnshop a block away. It was only two hours into their tour, but it was already promising to be a long day.

"You're probably right," Faith said, putting her cap on. "Kids today, huh?"

"Speaking of kids," Terri said. "Did Charlie get the part in his school play?"

"Yeah, he did. They'll start rehearsals next week," Faith said as they walked into the store. "It's a musical, so it should be cute."

A female cashier directed them toward the manager's office in the rear.

"When are they performing it?" Terri asked.

"Around the end of June, just before school gets out." Faith glanced over at Terri with an odd grin on her face. "Maybe you and Bosco could come. You know, make it a date."

Terri smiled. She and Bosco had been seeing each other off and on for the past few months, mostly at Faith's suggestions. It was nothing too serious, but they'd had some good times together and Terri wouldn't mind seeing it go further. There was definitely something there. "Sounds like fun, but I'm not sure he plans that far in advance."

They put their conversation on hold when they reached the office, which was actually just a partially partitioned corner in the small storage room in back. As they approached, they could see an older man sitting in a folding chair next to a small desk covered in loose papers. This had to be the store manager.

"Thank you for getting here so quickly," he said, getting to his feet. "I'm Tony Alvarez, store manager." He spoke with a slight Spanish accent.

"What can we do for you, Mr. Alvarez?" Terri asked as she stepped around the partition, into the 'office'. She was expecting to see some young kid sitting in front of the desk with tears in their eyes. Instead, calmly sitting in a folding chair against the wall, was a white male in his late twenties. His head was covered with a backward baseball cap sporting a New York Mets logo and his hands were tucked into the front pocket of an over-large tan hoodie. He was completely relaxed and, with a slight grin on his face, he looked as if he found the whole situation amusing.

"We caught him stealing these," Alvarez said, pointing to a pack of cigarettes, a box of over-the-counter sedatives, and a package of condoms sitting on the table.

"Planning a fun night, huh?" Faith asked.

The guy shrugged. He still had a cocky grin on his face. He was really getting on Terri's nerves. "Alright, stand up and put both hands on the wall for me," she said. He stared back at her and, for a moment she thought she recognized him. She had probably arrested him before.

The man slowly got to his feet. As he turned to the wall, he glanced around, as if surveying the layout of the area and a warning sounded in the back of Terri's mind. There was something about this guy and the whole situation that was wrong, but before she had time to process it, the man suddenly lunged at her. He grabbed her around the waist and pushed her into the store manager. Terri and Alvarez fell into the flimsy table, which collapsed under them and they fell to the floor. The man ran from the room with Faith right after him.

Terri got to her feet, hastily made sure the manager was okay and then sprinted after her partner. She turned the corner just in time to see the man shoulder Faith into a rack of potato chips and take off running toward the other end of the store. Terri ran over to Faith, who was trying to get to her feet.

"I'm fine, keep after him," Faith yelled, as she waved Terri on.

Terri saw the man make a beeline toward the side of the store, away from the front entrance. "Stop right there!" she called as she ran after him. Behind her, she could hear Faith calling this odd turn of events in to central dispatch.

As the man turned down the last isle, he turned his head and Terri could see a smile on his face. Where is this guy going? Terri thought. She pushed herself and sped up toward the fleeing man. When she was within a few feet of him, she lunged at his back, caught him around his waist and dragged him down to the floor.

They wrestled around for a moment. He jabbed her in the ribs with a sharp punch. The blow landed in the gap between the front and back of her Kevlar vest. It knocked the wind out of her and she fell back, losing her hold on him. He scrambled to his feet. Determined not to let him get out of the store, Terri managed to kick out her leg and catch it between the man's legs. He stumbled, fell, and hit the floor on his stomach with a soft grunt.

Terri moved over to him. She pulled his elbow up toward his head and pressed her knee hard into the center of his back. In this painful position, he decided not to struggle any more. She was pulling out her handcuffs as Faith ran up.

"Terri, you okay? You got it?"

"Yeah," Terri said, clicking the cuffs closed around his wrists. She slowly got to her feet, taking a deep breath. "Let's get this jag-off into the squad."

They each grabbed an arm and pulled the man to his feet. He must have been winded himself, because they were able to walk him out of the store and over to their RMP without too much trouble. As Terri pushed him into the back of the car, she neglected to remind him to watch his head and there was a solid crack as it made contact with the hood of the car.

"Oops," Terri said, flatly. "Watch your head." She slammed the door closed. She turned to Faith. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She noticed that Terri was holding an arm to her side and wincing slightly. "What about you?"

"The bastard punched me after I tackled him. The nerve, huh?" Terri said. In truth, her heart was racing, her vision was becoming slightly fuzzy and her side where he punched her was burning. "I just got the wind knocked out of me is all. I'll be fine."

"You want to go get checked out?"

"You know how I feel about doctors and their needles. No thanks." She had developed an irrational hatred of doctors and hospitals in her youth and did whatever she could to avoid them. Including talking herself out of going, even when she knew she needed to. Like now. Terri managed a weak smile. "I just need to catch my breath."

"You sure? You look a little shaky."

"I'm fine," Terri said, a little too forcefully. When she saw the look on Faith's face, Terri softened. "Look, I'm sorry, Faith. I got a little dinged up, but I'm sure filling out all the paperwork at the hospital and having to report it and file an incident report to the captain will only aggravate me - I mean my condition."

Faith smiled. "Fine, but you're gunna take it easy for the rest of the day, okay? We'll stay off the radio as much as we can."

"You mean duck calls?" Terri asked, feigning shock. "Why Officer Yokas, I do believe a certain partner of yours may've corrupted you."

"Just give me the keys so I can drive," Faith said, holding out her hand.

Terri checked her pockets for the keys. "Are you sure I've got them?"

"You were driving."

"I must've lost them back in the store."

Faith nodded. "You wait in the squad. I'll go back in and look for them."

"I'm fine, Faith," Terri said, pointedly.

Faith decided not to argue.

They walked back into the store. Terri went toward the isle where she'd had her scrimmage, while Faith walked back toward the manager's office.

As Terri neared the spot were she'd tackled the guy, her head began to swim in earnest. She stopped, blinked a few times, tried to take a few more steps, but had to stop quickly and use the shelf for support. She took a few deep breaths and tried to focus on something other than her spinning head. This was more than just having the wind knocked out of her. There was something seriously wrong.

She looked over the shelves and saw Faith coming toward her, holding her hands up to show she hadn't found anything. Terri held out a hand. "Faith - I - something's wr -" but before she could finish, she was overcome by a wave of dizziness and lost her balance.

As she fell, the side of her head smacked against the shelf, and then made contact with the floor, with a sickening crack.

Everything went black.

* * *

The blackness around her started to fade. Faceless voices surrounded her. Terri tried to open her eyes, but when she did, she couldn't focus. Everything was a blur. She couldn't move her neck and there was a ringing in her ears. Her entire body felt heavy. Adrenaline started coursing through her body. She tried to sit up, but two strong hands pushed her back down.

"Whoa, Terri, just relax. You're okay."

She recognized the voice. "Doc? What's going on?"

"You're in an ambulance. Everything's fine, don't worry." A female voice.

"Faith?" Terri asked.

"Yeah, I'm right here," Faith said. She was holding one of Terri's hands and she gave it a small squeeze.

Terri tried blinking her eyes. "My eyes."

"There's a bandage on the laceration over your right eye that's obscuring your eyesight," Doc said. "And you hit your head pretty hard so probably have a concussion, so you may have double or blurry vision."

Terri's head was spinning. "What?"

"You fell back at the store and hit your head," Faith said. "You've been unconscious for almost twenty minutes."

Back at the store? It was slowly coming back. "That guy-"

"Sully and Davis got it. Don't worry about it," Faith said. "How do you feel?"

"Terrific." Terri did a quick systems check. She finally realized the ringing in her ears was the siren on the ambulance, but there were still a few things that sent up flags. "I feel kinda queasy and my hands are numb."

"Once we get to the hospital-"

"Aw, man," Terri moaned.

"What's wrong, Terri?" Doc asked. "Do you need something for the pain?" Doc could see that she was trying to smile in spite of any pain she was in. "What?" he asked.

"Not pain," Terri mumbled. "Hospital. I'm allergic."

Doc smiled back. "Well, you're going to need some sutures, at any rate, so I don't think there's any getting around going. Besides, we already have you in the bus. I don't think I'm allowed to pull over and let you out."

"I won't tell anyone if you don't."

Doc chuckled. "We're less than a minute out. Just relax and enjoy the extra attention."

* * *

"How is she?"

Faith forced her voice to remain steady. "They're treating her now, but she should be fine."

She was talking to Bosco on her cell phone. He was on his way over to the hospital. Somehow, Bosco had heard what had happened and he'd called her just as the doctors and nurses were pushing Terri into the trauma room. Faith stayed just outside and watched through the glass.

"Do you know what happened?" Bosco asked.

"I'm not really sure." Faith tried to keep her voice even, but she was still a little shook up. "One minute she seemed fine - a little winded, maybe, but then she just -" her voice cracked. "She just fell."

"Is she awake?"

"Yeah. She woke up in the bus on the way to the hospital."

Bosco let out a sigh of relief. "I'm only about five minutes out." When he was met by silence, he added, "She's gunna be fine, Faith."

"I know," Faith said. One of the nurses gave her a stern look and mimed handing up a phone. Faith nodded her understanding. "I gotta get off the phone." She forced a smile into her voice. "Don't break too many laws trying to get here in a hurry, okay?"

"You know me."

"Yeah, I do," Faith said, a genuine but very slight smile played around the corners of her lips. "See you soon." She pushed the end button and put her phone back in her jacket.

The glass door slid open and Doc and Carlos came out, pushing their stretcher. "You doing okay, Faith?" Doc asked.

"Yeah, considering," Faith answered. "How is she?"

"She's alert and responsive," Doc answered. "And making sure everyone in there is board certified and doing their jobs right."

In spite of herself, Faith let out a small laugh. "Sounds about right."

Doc put a hand on Faith's arm. "She's going to be fine. They're taking good care of her."

"Yeah, not to mention that it'd take more than that fall to crack open her hard head," Carlos said.

Doc and Faith both looked at him.

"What?" Carlos shrugged. "I heard Terri say that to the doctor as we rolled her inside the trauma room."

Again, Faith couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, that sounds like her too."

They stood in silence for a few moments, watching as the doctors and nurses administered to Terri. Faith looked down at the blood covered bandages littering the floor around Terri's bed. Without really thinking, she started speaking.

"We were joking around, talking about simple things. Then the guy ran and -" She paused, running the scene through her head. "It all happened so fast." Again, she paused. For some reason, she had this nagging feeling that this was far from over, but she pushed it away. "There didn't seem to be anything wrong before she fell. She had to fight to get the guy in custody, but I didn't think she got hurt too bad. When we went back in, she just passed out or fainted or something."

"People slip in grocery stores all the time," Carlos said. "They do it so they can sue the store and collect insurance."

Doc threw Carlos a look, but it wasn't caught in time. His comment broke the spell.

Faith turned away from the window and advanced on Carlos. "Are you saying that Terri fell and cracked her head open on purpose? 'cause that's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say and you've said some pretty stupid things in your time."

Carlos raised his hands in defense. "That's not what I meant."

Doc stood between the two of them. "He didn't mean it, Faith. Just relax."

Faith knew she was over reacting, but for some reason, she couldn't help it. Deep down, she blamed herself for Terri's accident. It was her fault Terri had to chase after the man alone. She shouldn't have let him push her into that display. She should've had him in cuffs before he even had the chance to run.

The door to the room opened and Nurse Mary Proctor came out. Yokas forgot about Carlos and walked over to her. "How is she?"

Mary handed Faith a large plastic bag. "Here are Terri's clothes and personal items. Does she have any family that needs to be called?" Mary asked.

Yokas felt the air leave her lungs. "Why? What's wrong?"

Mary held up her hands. "Nothing, she's fine. I'm sorry. She's all patched up and resting comfortably."

Faith closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "God, Mary. That's a good way to give me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry," Mary said. "I was just going through her medical file and I noticed that she doesn't have anyone listed for her next of kin or any family medical history."

Faith shook her head and thought about it for a moment. Terri rarely spoke about herself. "I think she mentioned once that both her parents have past and that she was an only child, but I don't know for sure."

Proctor nodded. "Terri needed seven stitches to close the laceration above her eye and she has a mild concussion. Also, because of her symptoms; elevated heart rate, dizziness, numbness in the hands; they took a glucose reading and found that she's at a 43, which is very low. We're going to admit her for observation and to run a few tests, to make sure we didn't miss anything, so we're going to move her into a private room upstairs."

"I bet she's thrilled about that," Faith said, under her breath.

"There might have been a few words exchanged between Terri and Dr. Fields," Mary said with a slight smile. "You can go in and see her, if you'd like."

Faith nodded. "Yeah, I would. Our Lieutenant is on his way over and Bosco's gunna be here soon. They'll both want to see her too."

"You can use our locker room down at the end of the hall if want to wash up a bit first," Mary said with a slight wink. "There are also some lockers in there if you want to store her things."

Faith looked down at the front of her uniform and realized it was covered with Terri's blood. "Yeah, thanks, Mary."

Doc put a hand on Faith's shoulder. "We've got to get back out there. You let us know if you need anything, all right."

"Yeah, sure, Doc. Thanks."

* * *

Officer John Thomas Sullivan stood with his arms crosses over his chest, staring down at the pool of blood left by his fellow officer. He had seen plenty of blood during his tenure with the NYPD, but when it belonged to someone he knew, it was always more real and harder to stomach. And yet, he seemed unable to pull his gaze away.

When Yokas's "Assist Police Officer" 10-13 call went out over the radio Sully and his partner, Tyrone Davis, Jr., were the first officers to respond, arriving there just as Doc and Carlos were taking Terri out to the ambulance. The scene was still playing over and over in his head.

"_Faith? Is Terri okay?" Davis said as he got out of the RMP and jogged over to the gurney as Doc and Carlos pushed it out of the store. He saw Terri. "Oh, my God."_

"_Sully, get the doors," Doc said._

_Sully went over to the ambulance and made sure the back doors where opened wide and helped lift the gurney into the back once they got there. Sully's stomach twisted and a dull pain shot through him as he saw Terri. She was unconscious, her face was covered with blood and she was very pale. "Faith?"_

"_I'm going to ride with her," Faith answered. "There's a prisoner in the back of our RMP." Her voice sounded oddly hollow._

"_We'll take care of it," Sully said with a nod. He made sure everyone was in and secure, then closed the back doors, slamming his open palm on the doors a few times to indicate they were cleared to leave. They watched silently as the ambulance speed away._

"Hey Sully, CSU just pulled up."

Davis's call brought Sully around. Davis had been standing near the entrance, both keeping an eye out for CSU and securing the store. Sully looked down at his watch. "It's about time," he mumbled as he went to meet them at the door. There had been no update on Terri's condition and he was very anxious to get to the hospital. They had been here for over thirty minutes.

Three additional units had answered the 10-13. The first two that arrived after Sully and Davis were from the twenty-second precinct that had been on a meal break not too far away. They left once they saw the situation was in hand. The third, Five-Five Frank, offered to take Faith and Terri's RMP and their prisoner back to the stationhouse. When they went into the store to look for the keys, Sully found them under the shelf right where Terri had gone down. He'd also found the item that had prompted the lock down of the scene and the 10-85 CSU request call.

Sully watched the two CSU guys get their gear out of the back of their car. He recognized one of them as Jason Price.

Sully only liked a handful of people. "Crap." This guy was not one of them.

"You guys called us to a shoplifting? We've got three other calls stacked up behind this one. What makes you guys think you need Crime Scene?"

"Can it, Price," Sully said. Yep, still an arrogant SOB. "Officer Swensen got hurt here and we want to know why."

The CSU officer's demeanor changed instantly. "The 13 was about Terri?"

Sully nodded.

"What've you got?"

Sully exchanged a quick look with Davis. "We found something that we need processed."

Price nodded. "Whatever you need. We'll put you up first."

Sully's opinion of Price was changing a bit. "Come on. I'll show you where it is."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

Bosco walked in through the automatic doors of the ER just as Doc and Carlos were pushing their gurney out.

"Hey, Doc, did you guys bring Terri in?" Bosco asked.

"Yeah, they've just finished moving her to a private room on the third floor," Doc answered. "Room 316."

"Just so you know," Carlos added. "She did hit her head, so she might be kind of-" he whistled and circled a finger on the side of his head.

"The doctor said you could go in when you got here," Doc added, throwing Carlos a look.

"Is Yokas in with her?" Bosco asked.

"She was going to wash up first," Doc said. "I'm sure she'll be up shortly."

Bosco nodded. He looked down the hall toward the elevators, and then back at Doc and Carlos. "Thanks, Doc."

"No problem," Doc answered. "We'll see you later."

Carlos cleared his throat. "She needed seven stitches above her right eye and it's completely swollen shut. She's going to have a pretty good shiner when the swelling goes down."

Bosco nodded and clenched his jaw. "Yeah, thanks."

"You bet," Carlos said.

"Take care," Doc said, and they both turned and left.

Bosco turned and walked down the hall to the elevators. Once on the third floor, he quickly located Terri's room. The door was open so walked in. Terri was lying in her bed, a bandage covering most of her right eye. Her left eye was closed.

Bosco felt the anger rise in his chest. How could something like this happen? If he'd been working today, the man they arrested would have a few bruises of his own. He slowly walked over to her bedside.

Terri stirred a bit and then her left eye opened. She smiled weakly when she recognized him. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Bosco said.

"By the look on your face, Boz, I'd have to guess it looks almost as terrible as it feels."

Bosco smiled. "It hurts that bad, huh?"

"Watch it, Maurice. Crack in my skull or not, I can still kick your ass."

Bosco's smile faded. "I'm just glad you're all right."

"Yeah?" She asked, touched by the emotion he was displaying.

Bosco nodded, not trusting himself to answer.

"Well at least you're feeling bad for me," Terri said. "I just can't shake the fact that I ended up in the hospital over something as stupid as this."

"So, how are you feeling? Really?" Bosco asked.

"Well, they've got me on some pretty good drugs, for a myriad of things, so I can't feel much of anything," Terri said motioning to the IV in her hand. "Although, there is a needle poking through my skin. Can't say that I like that very much."

He pulled a chair over next to the bed and sat down. "So any word on how long you'll be here?"

Terri sighed. "The doctor wants to keep me here overnight. I guess I fainted because my blood sugar got too low or something, and they want to try to get it regulated before they'll let me go."

"Blood sugar? That's like a diabetic thing, right?"

"I guess, but I'm not diabetic." She closed her eyes and scratched the bandage covering the cut on her forehead. "And, because I lost consciousness for more than five minutes, they need to watch and make sure that I don't have some kind of brain injury, or something. So no rest for the weary."

Bosco smiled. "'Because you lost consciousness?' You sure it's not just 'cause they spent five minutes in the same room with you that they think you've got something wrong with your brain?"

Terri feigned shock. "How dare you. I'd teach you a lesson in manners, if I didn't think they'd keep me here longer."

"All right." Bosco raised his hands. "Sorry. That was a cheap shot. So, what can I do to help keep you awake?"

Terri smiled. "I can think of a few things."

* * *

Faith finished cleaning the blood off her face and arms before she leaned over the sink and splashed cold water on her face. She'd taken off her shirt, scrubbed most of the blood out, and laid it across a bench to dry.

"Officer Yokas?"

Faith looked up into the mirror and saw a nurse's reflection. "Yeah?"

"Lieutenant Swersky is here."

Faith grabbed a towel and quickly dried her face. She turned so she was facing the nurse. "Thanks."

"There should be a clean pair of scrubs in the cupboard over there, if you need them."

"Thank you."

The nurse smiled and left.

Faith walked over to the cupboard and opened it. She pulled out a turquoise blue set of scrubs and set them down on the bench next to her uniform. As she was pulling the top over her head, her cell phone rang. She quickly fished it out of her pants pocket and answered it. "Hello."

"That was quite a nasty little spill your partner took today, wasn't it?"

Faith felt her heart skip a beat. "What?"

"She needs to keep from sticking herself in bad situations. It might be much worse next time."

"Who is this?"

The line clicked, and then went dead. Faith was still staring down at her phone when Swersky came in a few minutes later.

* * *

Officers John Sullivan and Tyrone Davis, Jr. walked into Terri's hospital room and found Bosco and Terri very involved in a serious card game. Davis was carrying a plastic grocery bag in one hand.

"What is going on in here?" Davis asked with a grin on his face.

"Terri's kickin' my ass at gin," Bosco said without looking up from his cards. "I already owe her $14.75, and this hand isn't any better."

"Gin?" Davis asked. "I thought that was an old person game."

"Bite your tongue, young man," Terri said with a smile. "My father taught me this game when I was a kid."

"How do you lose money playing gin?" Davis asked.

"You play a penny a point and a dollar a game," Sully answered. He smiled at the look both Davis and Bosco gave him. "Terri might have taken a few dollars from me in the past." He turned to Terri. "How are you feeling?"

Terri shrugged. "Besides the headache that's twice the size of Texas, the nurses coming in every 30 minutes to make sure I'm not in a coma, the drug cocktail pumping into me and the overnight stay at the hospital I've been awarded, I'm feeling pretty swell, thanks."

"Well, we're glad you're okay," Sully said.

"Yeah," Davis added. "When we heard Yokas's 1O-13 over the radio-" he let his sentence hang.

"What's in the bag?" Bosco asked.

Davis smiled mischievously. "Well, Sully and I thought we'd smuggle in some contraband for our injured comrade." He opened the bag wide enough to reveal a bag of sunflower seeds, a box of Little Debbie oatmeal crème pies and a six-pack of Mountain Dew. "We thought you might like some comfort food."

"I may've just fallen in love with you two," Terri said setting down her cards and taking the bag from Davis.

"You just brought stuff for her?" Bosco complained.

Sully ignored him and said, "We also got a copy of the surveillance tape from the manager."

Terri heard the heaviness in his voice. The bag was set aside and Terri pointed to the TV in the corner. "You may need to find a VCR."

"They've got one in the nurse's lounge," Bosco said. "I'll go get it." He set down his cards, making sure that they mixed with Terri's cards. "Oops. Guess we'll have to start this hand over."

As he left the room, Davis and Sully walked over to the side of Terri's bed.

"So what's on the tape?" Terri asked.

Sully and Davis exchanged a quick look that was not lost on Terri.

"What?" Terri asked.

"It's nothing, really," Sully said. He forced a smile. "We're just glad you're alright."

Terri knew there was more too it, but she also knew if Sully was holding something back, he was doing so with good reason. She decided to let it go. She opened a crème pie and took a big bite. She leaned back in her pillow and smiled up at them. "My heroes."

"Of course," Sully said with a shrug.

"So, Davis do you know how to play poker?" she asked. "Or is that an old people game too?"

Davis sat down in Bosco's chair. "Poker? Bring it on, sista." He started shuffling the cards.

Sully caught Terri's eye and gave her a small wink. "Should we make things interesting? Play dealer's choice, with a dollar ante and no cap on raises?"

"We should keep things friendly," Terri suggested, playing along. "Make it a quarter ante instead."

"What?" Davis asked. "Is a dollar too steep for you?"

"No, but it might be too steep for you," Sully said. "I've played cards with Terri before, remember?"

"I don't know, Sully," Terri said. "They've got me on some pretty good meds here and I'm not sure how they'll affect me. The kid might have a chance."

Davis rubbed his hands together. "All right. Shuffle up and deal."

* * *

"Faith?"

Faith had been thinking about the phone call and hadn't realized Lieutenant Swersky had asked her a question. "Sorry, Lieu. What did you say?"

Lieutenant Swersky, as the commanding officer of the Fifty-Fifth precinct, was required to report on any injuries sustained by the officers under his command while they were on duty. Sometimes, that job included telling families that their spouses, parents or children wouldn't be coming home. Thankfully, this was not one of those times. Still, he understood that it was hard to focus after something like this.

"I asked if you rode in the ambulance with Terri."

"Yeah, I did."

"Then your RMP is still at the scene?"

Faith shook her head. "Sully and Davis were over to the scene and they said they'd take care of it. We arrested the guy that started all this. He was still in the back."

"I'm sure it's been taken care of then." Swersky smiled. "Why don't you go up and see how Terri's doing."

Faith nodded. "Are you coming up?"

"I just came from there. Sully and Davis are up there now. They were asking about you."

"Yeah, I just needed to change and a get a few things squared away."

Swersky nodded. He knew Yokas needed processing time. He patted her on the shoulder. "Terri's gunna be fine. Go up and see her. She needs to see you, and know you're alright too."

Faith nodded. "Yeah. I'm on my way."

"Okay, well, I'm glad you're okay. Take it easy, okay?"

Faith nodded and watched Swersky leave. She gathered her uniform and put it in the locker with Terri's things before she closed it and locked it. On the elevator ride to the third floor, she ran everything through her head once more. She wasn't sure if she was ready to see Terri yet, so rather than going straight to Terri's room, she went down the opposite hall to the nurse's lounge and sat down on the couch. She sighed loudly and put her head in her hands.

"Faith?"

Faith nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked up. Bosco was standing over by the TV, staring at her.

"Bosco. Hey. I didn't see you there."

"Apparently. What's up?"

Faith opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find the words.

"What wrong?" Bosco asked. He took a step toward her. "Faith?"

It all came out in a rush. She started with a quick run through of what happened at the store, the wait for the ambulance, what Carlos said about the insurance money, and washing Terri's blood out of her uniform. She told him about the call she'd received and how she didn't know what to tell Terri, or even if she should tell Terri at all. Once it was all out, she felt oddly deflated, yet slightly relieved that she didn't have to carry this around alone. She looked at Bosco. "So, what do you think?"

Bosco had stopped listening as soon as she'd told him about the phone call. He had received a similar call, at his home, not more than an hour ago. The call had angered him. He thought someone was out there, playing a sick little mind game with him. However, once he called Faith to confirm the caller's story, his anger turned to frustration and fear. If there was someone out there who could orchestrate such an elaborate accident sending Terri to the hospital, what else was this person capable of and how long would it be before they found out?

"Boz?"

Bosco looked at Faith, realizing he'd been lost in his thoughts. "Sorry, what?

"Do you think I should tell her about the phone call?"

Bosco shrugged and did his best to display indifference. "It was probably someone trying to yank your chain. Let's just play this one by ear," he said. He knew this decision could - and most likely would - backfire on him, but he would cross that bridge when he got there. Right now, he just wanted to keep everyone calm and safe. "She needs a little more time to rest before she starts worrying about something like this."

Faith nodded, accepting his explanation without hesitation. "So what were you coming in here for?"

Bosco had to think for a moment before he remembered. He pointed toward the VCR and TV. "Davis and Sully got the surveillance tape from the store. We were going to watch it to see if there's anything on it to explain her fall." Even as the words came out of his mouth, he had a gut feeling there would be. As he slowly unhooked the VCR from the TV, he realized that watching the tape would more than likely confirm his fears that someone had indeed planned this whole situation.

Faith watched in silence as Bosco unhooked the various cords. He seemed more calm than he would usually be in these circumstances. He had certainly sounded very agitated on the phone when he'd called her to see what was going on. Now, on the other hand, he was almost too composed. For Bosco, anyway. She shrugged it off. He was probably just relieved that Terri wasn't injured too badly and that he was here now and able to feel like he was doing something.

They were walking down the hall to Terri's room when Faith asked, "How did you find out about Terri's accident?"

Her question caught him off guard for a split second, but he quickly recovered. "I heard your 10-13 over the radio."

"What radio? You were off duty today."

"I have a scanner that I listen to when I'm off work, so if anything interesting goes down, I'll be in the loop."

Faith nodded, satisfied with his answer. As they approached Terri's room, Faith steeled herself, putting on a brave front and leaving her worries about the phone call behind her. She opened the door and held it for Bosco.

"Hey, Faith," Terri said, as she took a ten dollar bill from Davis. "I was wondering where you were."

"I was talking to Swersky downstairs." Faith ignored the look she could feel Bosco giving her and quickly shifted the focus away from herself. "Davis, are you playing poker with Terri?" Faith asked, a grin playing around the corners of her mouth. "Don't you know any better?"

"Apparently not," Davis answered.

"He wasn't doing too bad either," Terri said. "Until the second hand, that is."

"Terri let Davis win the first hand, so on the second hand, he thought he'd call her bluff with a bluff and lost," Sully explained. "It's been down hill from there."

"I wasn't bluffing," Davis declared. "I had a pair of threes."

Bosco was hooking the VCR up to the TV, but he looked over at Davis and shook his head. "You should've just left the ante at a quarter, man."

"How'd you know we started at a quarter?" Davis asked.

"Because she did the same thing to me, but my mistake cost me thirty bucks _and_ dinner."

"How do you expect me to live my comfortable lifestyle if I can't have a few of you suckers supplement my income from time to time?" Terri asked with a smile.

"And what is this?" Faith asked pointing to a small pile of sunflower shells and cellophane wrappers and two empty Mountain Dew cans.

"It's to help with the pain," Terri admitted in an over-the-top weak voice, as she gently tapped her temple.

"Uh huh," Faith said with a smile.

"'Kay, we're set up," Bosco said.

Sully pulled the tape out of the plastic bag and handed it to Bosco.

Bosco pushed the tape into the VCR and pushed play. The angle of the camera was such that it overlooked the entire store, from one of the back corners. It had a view of the entrance and the cashier, but had only a partial view of all of the isles. All, except one. The last one. The one Terri had become quite familiar with. The camera had a full unobstructed view of this isle, almost as if this was supposed to be the main focal point of the camera.

The screen showed Davis standing in the far right of the frame, looking up into the camera. He was midway back in the store, standing outside the back room that contained the manager's office and, apparently the surveillance equipment because a few seconds later the image turned to the black and white snow of a blank tape.

"Rewind the tape to just before Faith and I get there," Terri said.

Bosco rewound the tape about thirty minutes worth. They watched images flash by in high speed reverse. When he saw Faith and Terri enter the store (or exit the store backward) he pushed play.

Terri sat forward a bit in her bed, watching the scene unfold and hoping that she didn't see something she should've done differently. There was no sound and the images were black and white and slightly grainy, but Terri couldn't take her eyes from the screen. The black and white images of Faith and herself disappeared into the back room. A minute or two later, the kid in the hoodie ran out, followed almost immediately by Faith.

They all watched as the man shoved his shoulder hard into Faith's chest. As Faith stumbled into the cereal display, Terri exited the back room and instantly took off after the man. Terri watched as she caught up and tackled the man. She anticipated the punch he delivered to her side and she winced subconsciously as it happened on the screen.

"He hit you pretty hard," Sully said. "Did you get that looked at?"

Terri waved off his question. "Bastard got in a lucky punch." She went back to watching just as she and Faith pulled the man to his feet and escorted him out of the store.

"You should still get it looked at," Sully said. "You never know."

Terri looked at Sully. She thought he was just being concerned, but then again, it was an odd thing to bring up, seeing how she was in the hospital for a head injury and getting all the looking at she could handle.

Bosco poked her in the spot where she'd been punched, bringing her thoughts back to the dull ache in her side.

Terri pulled away in pain and held her arm tightly against her side. She balled up her fist and shot him a withering look.

"He's right, you know," Bosco said, quietly.

Terri opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Davis.

"Look," Davis said, pointing at the screen.

Terri turned her attention back to the TV. She watched as her image came back into the view of the camera and started down the last isle. She was walking directly at the camera.

Everyone in the room was watching this scene unfold for the first time and they watched in silence.

They all watched as Terri swayed a bit, paused, swayed again and grabbed a shelf. She stood there motionless for a moment before attempting another step. In the back ground, Faith appeared and held up her hands. Terri motioned toward Faith with an outstretched hand. A split second later, Terri's body seemed to slacken and she crumpled, falling sideways. As she fell, they saw her strike her head on one of the metal shelves before landing face down on the floor.

Without realizing it, Terri's hand stole to her forehead and she gently rubbed the bandage covering the three-inch cut above her eye.

"Is that all from me?" Terri asked to no one in particular. She was shocked at the amount of blood that as pooling around her head.

No one answered. There were no words. Sully had thought almost that exact thing when he'd first looked down at the pool of blood. Now that he was seeing it happen, the same twisted feeling returned to his stomach.

On the screen, Faith ran to Terri's side and turned her over. She held a hand over the wound on Terri's forehead as she pulled the radio to her mouth with the other.

For the next four minutes no one spoke as they watched the screen. Faith and Terri were both almost motionless. Faith kept her one hand over the wound while she brought the other under Terri's chin and onto the opposite side of her face, cradling Terri's head in the crook of her arm. A small crowd of curious shoppers gathered to watch the show.

Faith thought back to how that four minutes of tape actually had felt like an eternity. The helplessness she'd felt waiting for help to arrive - watching the blood seep up between her fingers and trickle down into a pool on the floor and looking down at Terri's face, watching as it grew paler and paler – was a feeling that she never wanted to feel again, much less even think about.

On the screen, Doc and Carlos ran into frame and quickly went to work. Carlos put a c-collar on her neck while Doc checked her vitals. They lifted Terri onto the gurney and wheeled her out of the store with Faith right beside them, holding Terri's motionless hand.

The spell seemed to break and everyone in the room started breathing again. Terri decided it was up to her to break the somberness in the room.

"So, do we send this to World's Wildest Police Videos, or to America's Funniest Videos?"

There was no laughter. Faith felt sick. She shook her head and turned to leave the room.

"Faith," Terri called after her, but to no avail. Without a word, Faith opened the door and left the room, letting the door close softly behind her.

Terri stared at the closed door for a moment. She realized that she hadn't really considered how Faith was feeling about this whole situation. "She thinks this is her fault." It wasn't a question.

Bosco didn't respond. He knew there was more on Faith's mind than guilt.

"I'll go make sure she's all right," Bosco said, as he went after Faith.

"Bosco?" Terri asked. She had seen the look on his face. There was something he wasn't telling her. "What's going on?"

Bosco held up a hand with the index finger slightly extended, then left after Faith.

Terri stared at the closed door for a moment, before turning to Sully and Davis. "Well, I guess I know how to clear a room."

Sully and Davis just looked at each other.

Terri threw up her hands in exasperation. "Not you guys too!"

"There's something you should know," Sully said. "About what happened at the store." He looked at Terri, unsure of what exactly he was going to tell her, and how.

"Okay," Terri said. She leaned back in her pillows and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm listening."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I found a needle under the shelf right by the spot you had your tussle with that guy."

Terri looked blankly at Sully. With all the build up and insinuation, she had been expecting something a little more significant. "A needle?"

"A syringe," Davis clarified. "We think he might have injected you with something, while you two were fighting."

"What?" Terri shook her head. "He didn't ever have a chance to inject me with anything."

"He could have when he punched you in the side," Sully said.

Terri pulled up her hospital gown and felt the spot where she'd been hit. It was still very tender. "I can't quite see it," she said. "Is there something there?"

Davis leaned down closer for a better look. "There's a bruise," he said. He ran his finger tips gently over the spot. "I think I can see a needle mark."

"What?" Adrenaline pumped straight to Terri's heart. "Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure," Davis said. He looked for a second longer, then pulled her hospital gown back down and stood up straight. "Maybe we should get a doctor in here to look at it."

She reached down and grabbed the nurse call button and pushed it several times.

A second later, a voice sounded through the intercom built into the bed. "Nurse's station, what can I do for you?"

"I need a doctor right now," Terri said. "It's an emergency."

"What sort of an emergency?" the disembodied voice asked through the bed.

"Please, just get a doctor," Terri said. It came out more frantic than she'd expected.

"Right away," the bed answered.

Terri raised a shaking hand to her head, which had started to throb. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the pillows, trying to calm herself. She didn't normally let herself get worked up, but this was the most scared she'd been in a long time.

* * *

Faith was standing at the window at the end of the hallway, staring out the glass, without seeing anything beyond it. She didn't see or hear Bosco walk up beside her. When he first started speaking, she didn't hear him. She was too lost in her own thoughts to listen and comprehend what he was saying. Slowly, however, she focused and realized he was speaking to her.

"-not your fault. There's no way-"

"Look, Boz. I understand you're trying to help and all, but I'd rather not hear it right now, if you don't mind."

"Well, you need to hear it," Bosco said. "You can't blame yourself for what happened today. It wasn't -"

"'What happened today'?!" Yokas interrupted. "What happened today is that Terri ended up in the hospital and some sick jag-off thinks its one big joke."

"It was an accident." Even to him, his comment sounded hollow and untrue.

"No, it wasn't. There is something going on here, Bosco. Something serious." Faith looked down at her hands, envisioning Terri's blood on them again. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists. She opened her eyes. When she realized her hands were clean, she looked at Bosco. "We need to tell her about the phone call."

"Let's think about this for a second, Faith," Bosco said, trying to keep the anger from his voice. "What will telling her accomplish? You know how she'll react. She doesn't want to stay in the hospital any longer than she has to and this'll give her an excuse to leave."

"She has a right to know," Faith said.

"Maybe," Bosco said.

"'Maybe'?" Faith looked at him incredulously. "Bosco, someone called me and told me it might be worse next time. She needs to know someone is out there threatening her."

"We don't know that," Bosco said. "It could've just been a crank call."

"He called me on my cell phone, Bosco," Faith answered. "How'd he get that number?"

"I don't know, Faith," Bosco said. "Look, I'm only thinking about Terri right now, okay? You know how she'll react. I just don't think she needs to worry about something like this, on top of everything else that happened today."

Faith could see his reasoning and thought in silence for a few moments. Despite the fact it alarmed her a little that Bosco was being the rational one and trying to talk her into keeping a cool head, she had to agree with him. Terri would undoubtedly want to pursue the matter, even if it meant hindering her healing process. "Alright. I'll wait to tell her," Faith said. "But if anything else happens-"

"Nothing else will happen, Faith," Bosco said.

In the silent disbelief that followed his remark and as if on cue, a voice wafted toward them from down the hall. "Room 316, Doctor. She sounded very distressed."

Faith shot Bosco a swift "Why-did-you-have-to-say-something" look as they both headed hastily back to Terri's room.

* * *

"You okay?" Sully asked, taking a step closer to the bed.

"I don't know," Terri answered, truthfully. She couldn't get her heart to stop racing. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I wasn't sure it meant anything," Sully answered. "It's a bad neighborhood. Some junkie could have dropped it." He gestured toward the TV. "Then I saw the tape."

Terri nodded. It made sense. Her reasoning was coming back to her as she slowly calmed herself and focused on something other than the implications of the needle stick. "What did you guys do with it?"

"I called CSU over to the store," Sully said. "They took it to get tested. Price said he'd get the lab working on it as soon as he could. As soon as he finds out anything, he should call."

"Price is a good guy," Terri said, absently. Her mind was still reeling.

"Yeah," Sully said.

There was a soft knock on the door as it opened and a doctor and nurse came in. "Are you alright?" The doctor asked, slightly winded.

"I just found out that I was injected with something earlier today," Terri said. "I don't know what it was, or if the needle was dirty."

The door burst open and Bosco and Faith entered the room. They both surveyed the situation for a moment, concern donning both of their expressions.

"What's going on?" Bosco asked, looking from the doctor, to Terri. "Is everything alright?"

The doctor held up his hands. "Whoa! There are way too many people in here. Officer Swensen should be resting." He motioned to the door. "I need you all out, please. There's coffee in the lounge down the hall."

Terri averted the imminent mutiny with a quick nod and a small reassuring smile. "It's okay," Terri said. "Give us a minute."

Bosco still looked like he wanted to protest, but Faith took him by the arm and helped lead him from the room. Sully and Davis followed.

The moment the door closed behind them, Bosco pulled his arm free from Faith and turned to Sully and Davis. "What the hell happened?"

Sully told him about the syringe and the needle mark on Terri's side and what they suspected had happened back at the store.

His suspicions and fears confirmed, Bosco lost his battle keeping a cool head. "Son of a bitch!" Bosco turned on his heel and started down the hall, away from Terri's room, toward the elevators.

Davis immediately went after him. "Wait, Bosco. Hold up a minute." He caught up with him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Get off me, Davis!" Bosco warned.

"Bosco, just calm down," Faith said, catching up to the two of them as Davis pulled Bosco to a stop. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Don't tell me to calm down, Faith!" Bosco spat. "I want to go put a hole in that guy's head!"

"What guy?" Faith asked, aware the roles of reason-ee and reason-er had reverted back to normal. "What are you talking about?"

"This whole thing's been a set up, Faith," Bosco said through clenched teeth.

By this time, several nurses had looked to see what the commotion was. One of them whispered coldly, "This is a hospital! We have patients resting. You need to keep it down!"

Bosco used the nurse's interruption to pull free from Davis's hold and start toward the elevators again.

"Bosco would you stop." It was Faith who caught Bosco this time and pulled him to a stop. "What are you talking about? What set up?"

"Some jag-off calls us and warns us that it could have been worse," Bosco fumed. "And you want me to calm down and sit here on my ass doing nothing, while we got the guy responsible for this sitting in lock-up?"

"Wait a minute. What do you mean 'us'?" Faith asked. "You told me you heard about Terri on the scanner."

"Yeah, well, I lied."

"Damn it, Bosco," Faith said softly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were too bothered by your call. I didn't want you to freak out because some jag-off is getting off by calling and harassing people."

"What call?" Sully asked.

Faith shook her head in disbelief. "You should've told me."

"What call?" Sully repeated. "What is going on?"

"Let's take this out of the hallway," Davis suggested. The nurse was giving them another look.

Bosco wasn't in the mood to defend his actions or to be told off for them, but still he followed after Davis as he led the way down the hall and into the nurse's lounge.

Once they were inside the empty room and the door was closed behind them, Sully again repeated his question. "What call?"

Faith looked to Bosco to see if he wanted to answer, but one look told her the answer. She turned to Sully and said, "As they were moving Terri to her room, I got a call, on my cell, from some guy who knew about Terri's accident and he told me next time it could be worse."

"What?!" Davis exclaimed. "He mentioned Terri by name?"

Faith thought about this for a moment. "No, he didn't. He said 'your partner'."

"And you Bosco?" Sully asked. "What did they say to you?"

"What difference does that make?" Bosco asked. He thought back to his call.

_Your girlfriend just had a bit of an accident. I would call your partner and see what's going on. I sure hope this is just an isolated incident. I'd hate to see someone really get hurt._

"Bosco," Sully said, warning in his voice. "I want to know if Terri was the target, or if it was just random."

"'The target'?" Faith said. "What do you think is really going on?"

"Nothing good." Sully cocked his head to one side and sighed loudly. "Did you guys notice the camera in the store?"

"Of course we did," Bosco said, annoyed. "We watched a tape from it."

"No," Sully corrected. "I mean the angle. It just happened to be aimed right at the spot of the fight."

"So what? Lucky break," Bosco said.

"Yeah, right," Sully said. "And how many convenience stores can you think of that have real surveillance cameras, with tape running?"

Bosco got the point, but still didn't want to concede. "So?"

"'So,'" Sully repeated. "Someone went to a lot of trouble to hurt a friend of mine today and, personally, I'd like to find out who and why."

An uncomfortable silence fell over them. After a moment, Davis cleared his throat and voiced what he knew no one else would. "Let's assume Terri was the one whoever did this was after. Do we know anyone that would want to hurt her?"

"She's a New York City Police officer," Bosco said. "Just anyone in the entire criminal population."

"I don't think so," Davis said. "I mean, it wasn't some two bit thug. This whole thing obviously took a lot of time to plan and carry out. Whoever set this up had the time and resources to make sure he got who he was after."

Bosco shook his head. "I'm not going to do this." He pointed a fingerat each of them. "_We're_ not going to do this. This is just some sick game someone is playing and I'm going to go down to the house and see what I can beat out of that guy."

"Bosco, what is wrong with you?" Faith asked. The sharpness of her voice caught them all by surprise. "Someone put Terri in the hospital. You need to focus on that, instead of worrying about who you're going to beat information out of."

"I can't just sit here, doing nothing. I need to do something." Bosco looked down at his feet. "I don't know what else to do."

Faith put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, Boz," she said, her voice softer. "I understand how you feel, but maybe this time, all you need to do is be here, for Terri. If there is someone trying to hurt her, she is going to need all of our help."

Sully cocked his head to one side andcleared his throat. "I think I remember hearing something about Terri when she first joined the department that may have something to do with all this, but I'm not sure if it's true or not."

All eyes turned to him.

"Now, again," Sully said. "This is just something I heard around the house after she started. It was the type of story that, when you heard it, you thought that the person telling you either had a beef against Terri and they were making it up."

Davis waved his hand in a circular motion. "All right, enough with the preface. Get to the story."

"I just want you to know that I've never found out if this was true or not," Sully said. He sighed loudly and crossed his arms over his chest, then started into the tale of Terrisa Marie Swensen's past.

* * *

"If your baseline test for HIV is normal, you will need to be retested at three weeks, six weeks, three months, six months, and then at a year. In the mean time," Doctor Thomas said. He pulled his latex gloves off and tossed them in the garbage. "We'll start you on Zidovudine. That's about all we can do at this point."

Terri pressed the tape on the bandage covering the newly disinfected injection site on her side, and pulled her hospital gown back down. "Sure, fine. How long do I have to stay here?"

"We're trying to get you scheduled for a head CT," Dr. Thomas said. "I'll have the nurse come back and let you know when that will be. Until then, I want you to take it easy."

The doctor started toward the door.

"How long after the CT can I go, doc?" Terri asked. "I don't really want to stay here any longer than I have to."

"We'll see what the CT has to say," Dr. Thomas said. He flashed her a quick smile, then left the room before she could ask any more questions.

The nurse was checking Terri's IV and the different monitors that Terri was hooked up to. "Do you need anything else, hun?"

"A ticket out of this place," Terri sighed.

The nurse smiled. "Anything else?"

Terri nodded. "Yeah. I'd like to go to the bathroom."

"Do you need some help?"

"No," Terri said, unable to keep the edge from her voice. "I can manage that on my own, thanks. Would you please just help me with this?" She shook all the cords that were hooked on her. "How many of these do I really need?"

"I suppose we can unhook everything but the IV for a minute," the nurse said. She pulled the heart monitor from Terri's finger and removed the other pads from Terri's chest and neck before she helped Terri get to her feet.

Terri held the IV stand in one hand and stood upright. The floor was cold, but it still felt good to stretch a bit. "I think I can get it from here."

The nurse nodded. "I'll just wait out here for you, hun."

"Sure," Terri said. She slowly made her way across the cold floor and into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Terri looked at her face in the mirror. The swelling above her eye had gone down enough that she could just barely open her eye. She pulled at the tape holding the 4x4 piece of gauze covering the stitches and slowly peeled it off her face. This revealed a dark bluish-purple bruise that went from below her eye, up beyond her forehead and disappeared into her hairline.

In the center of the bruise, just above her eyebrow and running parallel to it, there was a cut about three inches long. She touched the cut gingerly with the tips of her fingers. It didn't hurt as bad as she'd expected.

Terri stared at herself in the mirror. Or as bad as it could have been, she thought.

She sighed and looked down at the sink, thinking about everything that happened, both at the store and here at the hospital.

The guy they'd arrested had run not to the exit, but to the only isle in the store the surveillance camera had a clear view of. He could have let her catch him, so they could get in the fight that would mask the injection with the punch. Whatever he shot her with was most likely what had made her dizzy, which had caused her fall and brought her here.

Was it possible that this was just an accident? Or was she being paranoid because she thought there was something more going on. Her thoughts drifted to who she thought might be responsible for orchestrating something like this. The first name that came to her caused her to shutter.

She'd left Chicago almost nine years before, trying to put her past - and him - behind her. If this was his doing, he wouldn't give up if the first attempt had gone wrong. Who knows, Terri thought, maybe this wasn't the first attempt. Maybe he'd been here a lot longer than she first thought. Perhaps he'd even followed her out here.

She angrily pushed all these thoughts from her head. She was letting this worry her too much and she knew the more she thought about it, the more paranoid she would make herself. She decided not to dwell on this anymore and go from there. This had been an accident, nothing more, and she was going to be fine. She just needed to get better and get back to work and putthis whole thing behind her.

Feeling confident and relaxed, she took one last look in the mirror before she turned and grabbed the door handle. As she opened the door, the first thing she noticed was a large bouquet of roses. The second was the man holding them.

Her heart stopped and her jaw clenched. Her confidence and calm melted away, to be replaced by fear and uneasiness. "Where's the nurse?"

"It's good to see you too, Marie." Kyle Holladay set the flowers down on the table. "I told her I was your husband and we needed a few minutes alone."

"What are you doing here?" There was a slight quiver in her voice.

"I heard you were here, so I came to see if you were doing okay and if you needed anything."

It seemed so surreal that just moments before, she had been thinking this whole situation felt like something her ex boyfriend would be capable of doing. Now, here he was, in her hospital room with flowers, seven hundred miles from where she'd left him.

She forced herself to stare him in the eyes, hoping she looked surer of herself than her churning stomach felt. "'You heard I was here'? From who? The guy you had stick me with a needle back at the store?" Terri asked. She glanced around, realizing she was alone with this man without any way to defend herself. Her heart felt like it would pound through her chest.

Kyle chuckled. "You always were the accusative type." He shrugged. "Besides, if you did get stuck with a needle, I'm sure it was clean. And I'm sure it was nothing more than some fast acting insulin that would bring your blood sugar down low enough to warrant a hospital visit."

An odd feeling came over her. Revulsion mixed with relief. "You bastard," Terri said through clenched teeth. "Get out."

"Now, now, Marie. Let's not be too hasty." Kyle walked over to a chair. He took his jacket off and draped it over the back of the chair before he sat down. "Why don't we sit and chat for a little while. Catch up on old times."

"I have nothing to say to you," Terri spat.

"Well, then, I'll talk, and you listen." He reached into his jacket and started to pull something out.

Terri took a step back. "There are cops all over in this building," she said. "You wouldn't dare." Where was her gun?

Kyle finished pulling out what he was reaching for. He held up a black leather wallet and shook it at her. "Sorry, Marie. No such luck." His dark eyes turned icy. "But, yes. I would dare."

Terri knew he wasn't bluffing and this caused a new fear to pump adrenaline through her system. She was alone and unarmed with a man who was able and willing to kill her. She looked at the door behind him, wondering if she could make it passed him.

"Don't you want to know what's in it?"

"A twenty year old condom?"

Kyle ignored her. "It contains your future."

"That was my next guess," Terri said dryly.

"In this wallet, I have three choices for you. The first is the best and the one that I'd strongly recommend." Kyle opened the wallet and pulled out a plastic key card.

"What is that?" Terri asked.

"This, my dear, is a key to my suite at The Peninsula."

"And why would I want a key to your suite at The Peninsula?" Terri asked, her stomach turning because she could guess at his answer.

Kyle smiled. "Well, I thought we might meet there one night. For old times' sake. Maybe order room service, open a bottle of champagne and-"

"What's my second choice?" Terri cut in. The ideas going through her head were progressively getting worse.

"Number two is a key to a safe deposit box at a bank downtown." Kyle stood and walked a few steps toward her. "And your third choice is the one I'd suggest you don't take."

Terri stood defiantly, trying desperately to keep the fear she was feeling off her face. Where was everyone?

Kyle stood in front of her and eyed her up and down. He reached out his hand and placed it gently on her cheek. "It's nothing. If you don't take either of the first two, then your future will be gone."

He grabbed the back of her neck roughly and pulled her face to within an inch of his. "You broke my heart, Marie. I loved you and would've given you anything you asked for, but you broke my heart instead."

"You asked me to be someone I didn't want to be," Terri said in a whisper. "I didn't like what I was becoming. Why couldn't you just let me go?"

"Because you're mine!" Kyle growled, and Terri felt spit hit her face. "I wasn't willing to let you go then and I'm not willing to let you go now."

Terri reached up and pulled his hand from her neck. "You'd better go, Ky, before someone finds you here."

In an instant, Hyde was replaced by Jeckle. Kyle smiled. "Sure. I just wanted to stop by and make sure that you were all right." He picked up his jacket he'd hung over the back of the chair. "Now, Marie, you have some choices to make. I'll give you until this time Friday, that's three days, before I make the choice for you."

He walked back over to her. "Please, don't make me do that." He stepped closer. "I still love you, Marie. I don't want to hurt you. Don't make me."

Without warning, he leaned in and kissed her. His hands wrapped around her waist, then found their way into the open slit in the back of her hospital gown. His hands wandered. He pulled her body into his.

Terri closed her eyes and let him touch her, painfully aware of the thinness of the gown she was wearing. She knew that if she tried to resist, he would get violent, and she was in no condition to defend herself or take any kind of beating. She felt tears in her eyes and tried to hold them back.

As Kyle finished and pulled away, a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Go, Ky," she whimpered. "Please."

"I do love you." He caressed her cheek one last time before he turned and left the room.

With one hand on her stomach and the other over her mouth, Terri quickly ran into the bathroom and retched over and over again.


	4. Chapter 4

"No way."

After what Sully just told them what he'd heard about Terri, Davis's exclamation echoed what each of them was thinking, yet it seemed oddly inadequate.

Faith shook her head. "If any of that were true, she would have told us."

"Come on, Faith," Bosco said. "If your dad was Alejandro Sosa and your boyfriend was Tony Montana, would you tell _anyone_, let alone your cop buddies?" He'd made the _Scarface_ reference to lighten the mood, yet it had the opposite effect on him and he felt his stomach twist with rage.

"Come on, Bosco," Faith pleaded. "We don't even know if this is true."

"It was just something that went around when she first started," Sully said. "As soon as everyone realized what a good cop she was, people stopped talking about it."

"Besides, true or not," Davis said. "Terri can't help who her father was."

"No, but she can sure as hell help who she sleeps with!" Bosco muttered through clenched teeth.

"Bosco-" Faith didn't know what to say.

"You know what," Bosco said. "I'm going to go ask her right now." He started for the door.

"Bosco, wait a minute!" Faith said, starting after him.

Davis held her back. "Let him go, Faith."

"What?" Faith said, looking at Davis as if he'd lost his mind. "He can't go see Terri like that!"

"He's going to see Terri," Sully said. "Instead of charging off to the police station to end his career."

Faith saw the logic in this, yet she still had reservations. "Do you think Terri can handle him like this?"

Sully and Davis looked at her incredulously.

"Right," Faith conceded. "We'll give them twenty minutes, before we go save Bosco."

* * *

Bosco felt like a man possessed. Bosco could care less who Terri's father was or what he'd done. It was the other man in Sully's story that un-nerved him. Sully's story had glossed over the aspects of Terri's relationship with a man half the cops in the western hemisphere had heard of, but he couldn't help but visualize the two of them together. He could think of nothing else.

As Bosco turned the corner of the hallway to Terri's room, he bumped into a man going the opposite direction. "Sorry," Bosco mumbled, not even glancing at the guy. He kept moving.

"No, my fault, officer," the man said. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," Bosco said as he continued toward Terri's room.

"Have a good night," the man called after him.

Bosco raised a hand toward the man in a half-hearted acknowledgment. He was at Terri's room. He knocked on the door before he opened it.

No answer. He opened the door. "Terri?" The room appeared empty. He walked in a bit further and noticed the IV stand lying on the ground, the tube and needle beside it. His stomach did a summersault and his anger was temporarily forgotten. He rushed over to the slightly ajar bathroom door and looked inside.

Terri was on the floor with her back against the wall and her knees pulled into her chest. Her hands covered her face. A gash on the back of one of her hands indicated where the IV had been. A small rivulet of blood flowed from it and down her forearm.

"Oh my, God." Bosco grabbed a paper towel from beside the sink and knelt down next to her. He gently pulled her hands away from her face and held the towel over the wound on the back of her hand. "Terri, are you all right?"

Terri shook her head and tried to recover her face with her other hand, but Bosco caught it before she did. Her face was dripping with water and he could tell she'd been crying. "What the hell happened?"

She collapsed into his arms. Every pain she had ever held inside came bursting to the surface in one gigantic sob. Every feeling she had suppressed in her life flooded out through her tears.

Not knowing what else to do and completely caught off guard, he just pulled her into his chest and held her tight.

"Hey, it's okay," he soothed. "Shh. It's okay." He rubbed her back with one hand while the other cradled her head. This was his first time ever seeing her cry and it was almost more than he could take.

For the next minute or so, they sat together like this, neither of them aware of anything around them.

* * *

Kyle Holladay had been expecting to see Officer Boscorelli coming out after him, so he waited patiently just outside the doors of the hospital. When no one came out after ten minutes of waiting, Kyle decided Marie must have convinced Bosco not to go after him.

Oh well, he thought. We'll just have to do this again some other time.

Kyle slipped the gun back into his jacket and walked casually over to his waiting car. As he climbed into the back, he smiled to himself.

Sometime soon, he thought.

* * *

Slowly, Terri's body began to relax and her tears subsided. She had been holding so many feelings inside for so long, that once they started to come out, she couldn't stop them.

She put her arms around Bosco's waist and leaned her cheek on his chest. She tried to catch her breath, but every few seconds a sob would rack her frame and cause her to gasp. After a few more minutes, her tears had all but stopped and she was calming down.

"You ready to tell me what happened?" Bosco asked in a whisper.

Terri held him tighter. "He was here, in my room." She almost started crying again, but she held back her tears.

"Who?"

"Kyle," Terri whispered. Terri felt tears in her eyes again. She hadn't told anyone here about Kyle before now.

He felt a flash of anger at the name and he couldn't keep the derision from his voice. "Kyle?" Bosco spat.

Still shaken, Terri missed the change in his tone. "He was here and I was by myself and I didn't have my weapon and he -" She felt sick again as she thought back to the kiss and what had happened after.

Bosco pulled her away from his chest so he could look at her face. "What did he do? Did he hurt you?"

"He wasn't here to hurt me."

The revulsion in her voice left no doubt about what had happened and Bosco flashed back to the visions of the two of them together he'd been having on his way to her room. Then, he remembered.

"Son of a bitch," Bosco muttered. He looked toward the door, back at Terri, then back at the door again, as if deciding between the two. "I think I ran into the bastard outside your room."

"How'd you know it was him?" Terri asked.

"He called me 'officer'," Bosco explained. "I can't believe I didn't catch it before. He had the balls to tell me to have a good night." He was still having an internal struggle against the urge to go after the guy, but he knew he couldn't leave Terri like this. Bosco shook his head. "If I'd known-"

Bosco saw and felt her shiver. "Come on. Let's get you back in bed." He helped her to her feet and held her steady. "You okay to walk?"

Terri nodded tentatively.

Slowly, Bosco walked her out of the bathroom and over to the bed. He helped her lie down and let her catch her breath as he pulled the blankets up over her legs and chest.

As she settled in, he went back into the bathroom and got another paper towel, wetting one end in the sink. As he came back out, he righted the IV stand and pulled it over to her bed with him.

As he slowly cleaned the blood from Terri's arm and hand, he cleared his throat and asked, "So, do you think you can you tell me what happened?"

Terri put her other shaking hand on her forehead. Where to begin, she thought. So much of the story needed to be told, before she could explain what had happened here tonight and have it make any kind of sense. Not knowing what to say and not trusting herself to speak anyway, she gestured toward the bouquet of flowers.

Bosco tossed the paper towel into a waste basket and walked over to the flowers. "These from him?" he asked, pulling out the card.

"'To my dearest Marie, my love forever'," Bosco read aloud. He turned to Terri. "He calls you by your middle name?"

Terri nodded.

Bosco noticed the wallet and slowly picked it up. As he opened it, a small piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor.

Bosco bent down and picked it up. It was a small black and white picture of a man and a woman. He showed the picture to Terri.

Terri took the picture with trembling hands. "These are my parents," she said, almost to herself. "This is the picture that was missing from my father's wallet when he was murdered."

"Your father was murdered?" Bosco asked, reeling. Guess Sully didn't get the whole story. "When?"

She didn't hear him. If Kyle had this picture, that would mean – "Oh, my God." Terri felt tears in her eyes again, but she brushed them away angrily. "That son of a bitch."

"What? You think your ex-boyfriend was involved in your father's murder?" Bosco couldn't help himself.

Terri was still processing the picture's appearance and didn't catch the "ex-boyfriend" drop. "How else could he have this picture?"

"Maybe he took it from him when you two were living together."

Terri felt more than heard the bitterness in his voice. It felt as if he'd slapped her in the face. "What?"

Bosco clenched and unclenched his jaw. "I just can't understand why you would keep something like this from me."

"Something like what?" Terri asked.

"Oh, come on! Drop the act," Bosco said. "Sully just told us all about your boyfriend back in Chicago."

At first, Terri's expression registered shock, but it quickly turned to sorrow and grief. She'd known about the stories going around about her when she first started with the NYPD, but that had been so long ago. Sully must have remembered them and put two and two together. "I should've been the one to tell you," she said. It came out softer than a whisper.

Bosco nodded. He wanted to say something like "You're damn right", but the look on her face stopped him. Instead, he asked, "Why didn't you?"

"I thought I'd left my past behind me." As the full connotation of what she'd just said settled in on her, her head became to pound again, in earnest. She leaned back into the pillow and tried to relax. "I guess some skeletons don't stay buried."

"You still shoulda told me," Bosco said. The anger he'd been feeling was slowing giving way to hurt and betrayal.

"You need to understand that this is a part of me I wish I could go back and erase. Believe me when I tell you I kept this from you because it's something I'm ashamed of and not because I wanted to deceive you."

"You should have trusted me."

Terri heard pain behind the resentment in his voice and turned to look at him. "Look, I've made some mistakes in the past. I'm the first to admit that, but I've done my share of penance already. Please don't make me pay for those mistakes again by turning against me now."

Bosco wrestled with this for a moment. How was he to know that she wasn't just coming clean now, because the cat was out of the bag? Yet, ever since he'd known her, she had always been straight with him about everything and he couldn't think of a single thing she'd ever done that was anything but honest. He looked at her and saw the pleading look in her eyes. "I wouldn't have thought of you differently if you told me this sooner, so why should now be any different?" he asked.

Relief swept over her and Terri felt her eyes fill yet again. She didn't think she could speak, so she nodded her thanks.

Bosco nodded back. After a shared moment of appreciative silence, he cleared his throat and shifted focus to the wallet he held in his hand. "Do you want to tell me what this means?"

After a deep breath, Terri repeated everything Kyle had said to her.

"What do you think is in the safety deposit box?" Bosco asked.

"Knowing Kyle, and what he wants, it's probably another key to his hotel room," Terri said with disgust. She held a hand to her head. She was suddenly feeling very lightheaded. "Whatever it is, it's not going to be good."

Bosco had only heard rumors about Kyle Holladay. Holladay was said to be as cunning a business man as he was ruthless with those who crossed him. He greased the right political wheels by donating to the right charities and campaigns. He had friends in high places, making him untouchable. Like smoke. Anytime there was the vaguest hint of impropriety about how he conducted his business or where he made his money, some Councilman or guild would give him an award, praising him for his contributions to society. Publicly, he was beyond reproach. Behind closed doors, however, was something only those closest to him would know.

Someone like Terri.

Bosco looked over at the flowers. They seemed so beautiful and benign, nonetheless he had found Terri terrified and crying on the bathroom floor soon after they'd been delivered. Anyone who could turn someone as strong and resolute as Terri into a sobbing mess, while being thoughtful enough to bring flowers to celebrate the occasion, was someone cold and depraved and best dealt with as soon as possible.

There was a soft knock at the door and they both tensed.

The door opened slowly and the nurse poked her head in. "Just checking in," she said as she walked over to Terri. "How are you feeling?"

Terri forced a quick smile as she felt her heart rate slowly come back to normal. She saw Bosco relax and let out a long exhale. "Fine." Then, remembering, Terri said, "I forgot I was hooked up and had a bit of an accident." She held up her hand where the IV had been.

The nurse looked put out for a moment, but hid it quickly with a smile. "Don't worry, dear. It's not the first time. I'll have to run and get a new set up. Be right back." She closed the door softly behind her.

"Tell me what we need to do to get this taken care of," Bosco said the second the door was closed. "Because I am not going to live like this." There was an odd, resolute look on his face as he added, "And neither are you."

Terri agreed, but frowned at him. "He's not like anyone you've ever dealt with before. He'll come at you from all sides and you won't see him coming."

"So what do you want to do?" Bosco asked, misunderstanding her. "Live in fear the rest of your life?"

"No" Terri said calmly. "I want to go after him. And we will. I just want to be sure that once we go down this road, we make it to the end. And I assure you this will not be a straight and narrow path. It's going to get ugly, on both sides."

The silence that followed her statement was heavy. Bosco felt a slight twinge of apprehension at the determined look in her eyes. "Okay," he said reticently. "What do you want to tell everyone?"

"I want them to know everything," Terri said. "Just not here. As long as I'm here, everyone will worry how I'm feeling or if I'm okay. I need to get out of this hospital."

The nurse knocked on the door as she opened it this time. "Here we go, dear," she said as she walked over to the bed.

"Oh good," Terri said, a forced smile plastered on her face. "I love the needle part."

"Oh, don't worry, dear. You'll hardly even felt it," the nurse asked as she busied herself cleaning the wound on the back of Terri's hand. "Other than your hand, how are you feeling? Any pain or dizziness?"

"I still have a little bit of a headache, but nothing new," Terri answered. "Just ready to get out of here."

"Well, the doctor has you scheduled for a CT at nine o'clock," the nurse said as she inserted the IV into the back of Terri's hand. "We'll know more once the doctor reviews the results, but you'll have to wait for him to okay your release."

"Fine." Terri forced another smile. "Thank you."

"Let me know if you need anything else." The nurse smiled politely and then left.

Bosco sat down in a chair next to the bed. "So what do you want to do now?"

Terri's answer was cut off by another knock on the door.

"We saw the nurse leaving," Faith said as she walked into the room. Sully and Davis followed closely behind. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Terri said, pulling at the pillow behind her back. "She just wanted to let me know that I've got a little while before I can get out of here."

"Who sent flowers?" Davis asked, pointing at the roses with his thumb.

"They were here when I got out of the bathroom," Terri said with a shrug. She noticed Bosco put his hands into his pockets, hiding the card and the wallet from view. "When do you guys have to get back to work?"

Sully looked down at his watch. "We should've cleared a half hour ago."

"I don't want you to written up because of me," Terri said. "Why don't we all meet for breakfast after shift? I've got something's I want to discuss with all of you."

Sully and Davis exchanged looks. "Sure. What time and where?" Davis asked.

"Molly's is open round the clock. How about we meet there at one o'clock," Terri suggested.

"Sounds good," Sully said with a nod.

Davis nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I like their waffles."

Terri smiled. "Thanks guys. You're wonderful."

Davis and Sully said their good-byes then turned and walked away. Terri moved her attention to Faith. "Have you called Fred and told him what's been going on?"

Faith was unprepared for this sudden change in topic. "Well, it's been a busy day. I haven't really had time to-"

Terri raised an eyebrow. "Don't try to push one of those stories on me, Faith. I may've slipped and hit my head, but I didn't hit my head that hard. When was the last time you tucked your kids in? Go home. They're more important than me."

Faith smiled. "All right. You take it easy and do what the doctor tells you, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Terri said, with a playful salute.

Faith looked at Bosco. "If they let you take her home and make sure she rests. Don't let her do anything. She needs to take it easy."

"Terri's a big girl," Bosco said, holding up his hands. "She can take care of herself. I'm just the driver." Bosco looked at Faith and she understood it to mean that he would do his best to keep Terri out of trouble.

Faith nodded. "Well, all right. Do you need anything else?"

"Yeah," Terri said. "Kiss Charlie and Emily goodnight for me."

Faith smiled. "Sure. I'll see you two at Molly's later."

"Yeah," Terri said. "'Night."

* * *

"Well, your CT looks clean. There don't appear to be any hemorrhages, but I would still feel more comfortable if you stayed here for a few more hours."

"Why? You just said I'm fine," Terri said.

"Symptoms from a head injury like yours can take hours, even days to present," Dr. Thomas said as he closed her file and set it on the foot of her bed. "It wouldn't hurt to stay at least overnight, so that we can monitor your condition and make sure we didn't miss anything."

Terri was shaking her head before the doctor finished speaking. "Is that really necessary? I mean, don't take this the wrong way, doc, but I would rather not stay here a second longer than I have to."

Dr. Thomas looked at Bosco, hoping to find an advocate, but Bosco held up his hands and shook his head. Dr. Thomas looked back at Terri and sighed. "Well, I can't keep you here if you don't want to stay. I'll need you to sign a form stating that you're leaving against medical advisement."

Terri shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

"You'll need to take it easy for the next couple of days," Dr. Thomas said. "And avoid taking medications that thin your blood, like aspirin or ibuprofen. I would suggest you stay away from alcohol as well."

"What, like, ten feet away or something?" Terri asked.

"You know what I mean." Dr. Thomas shook his head, but grinned. "I'll have a nurse bring you that form."

"Thank you," Bosco said, as the doctor left the room. He turned back to Terri. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

Terri just looked at him.

"Okay, dumb question," Bosco said, raising his hands. "Sorry."

"Would you just make yourself useful and help me get my stuff together, please," Terri said.

"It's just after ten," Bosco said. "What do you want to do for the next three hours?"

"I'd like to go back to my apartment and change, maybe take a shower." Terri uncovered her legs and flipped them over the side of the bed. She took a few breaths, trying to steady her head, and then she slowly got to her feet.

Bosco watched her with concern. "Terri-"

"Don't, Bosco."

"Don't what?" he shot back. "Don't be concerned about you?"

"I'm fine, Boz. I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I'm sore, but I'm fine.

"I just don't want to see you push yourself too hard."

Terri frowned slightly and shook her head. "Until this thing with Kyle is over, I don't think I've got a choice."

* * *

A few hours later, after they'd stopped at her apartment so that she could change and pick up a few things, Terri and Bosco pulled up in front of Molly's Diner.

"Well, now comes the fun part," Terri said.

"Are you okay doing this?" Bosco asked.

Terri thought about this for a moment and then slowly nodded. "It'll be tough, but it's got to be done." She climbed out of the car and walked into the diner. She glanced around and saw Sully, Davis and Yokas sitting at a table near the back. She and Bosco walked over and joined them.

"Terri," Faith said when she saw them coming toward her. "Hey. How are you doing? Did the doctor find anything?"

"Everything seemed to check out," Terri said as she sat down. "And the doctor tells me I've had enough hospital time today to fill my quota for the next few years, so I should be good for a while."

There were appreciative grins from Sully and Davis, while Faith and Bosco exchanged a look that was missed by Terri.

"I've got something for you," Faith said. She pulled a pulled a folded piece of blue paper out of her bag and handed it to Terri. "It's from Charlie. He wouldn't go to bed until he finished."

Terri looked down at the card. One the front, below a smiling sunshine, there was a stick figure of a boy holding some flowers. On the inside, it read, "Get well soon, Aunt Terri. Love, Charlie."

Terri smiled and found herself at a loss for words. She blinked the mist from her eyes and cleared her throat. "Tell him thank you very much if you see him before I do."

"Of course," Faith said.

Terri put the card away in her bag. She cleared her throat once more, and quickly wiped her eyes before she began. "First off, thanks for meeting me here," Terri said, as the waitress poured both her and Bosco coffee before going back to the kitchen. "I've got something I'd like to tell you, but it's complicated and might be hard for you to understand."

Davis looked at Terri. "Does it have anything to do with your ex-boyfriend in Chicago?"

"Davis!" Sully exclaimed.

Terri looked at Sully and smiled sadly. "I guess you heard the stories going around about me when I started, huh?"

Sully threw one last look at Davis before he turned to Terri. "Look, I'm real sorry, Terri. It wasn't my place to-"

"No, don't worry about it, Sully," Terri said, waving her hand at him. "It's quite a story. I'm surprised you sat on it as long as you have. But I think it might make more sense once you hear my side, too."

"Terri, if you don't want to talk about this, you don't have to," Bosco said. She'd given him a quick run through about her past earlier, back at the hospital, and he knew a conversation on this topic would probably stir up many bad memories. At the same time, however, he wanted to hear more about her father's murder that she'd spoken about.

"I think I'll feel a lot better if I had friends that I can talk to about this. It's been a long time since I've had anyone I could really talk to." Terri looked around the table at all the people there. "I trust you all with my life. I think you deserve to know the full story of whose back you're watching every day."


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm not sure what all you know, or what exactly you've heard, but I think I should start at the beginning," Terri said. "I guess that's usually the best place to start. And I know what I'm about to tell you is going to raise a lot of questions, but," she looked directly at Bosco. "I ask that you hear me out and I'll do my best to explain it."

Terri paused when the waitress came over and topped off their coffee. "Just let me know if you need anything else." She gave a brief, false smile before going back to her magazine at the counter. The five of them were the only customers in the diner.

Terri took a deep breath and then dived in. "I grew up just outside of Chicago in the village of Glenview. I was the only child of Terrance and Marie Swensen. My father owned a very successful import company that dealt mainly with antiques and rare items and my mother came from a very affluent Chicago family. Basically, I come from a very wealthy family. I had a comfortable childhood, never wanting for anything and I had parents who loved and cared for me. It was the perfect life.

"Then, my mother got sick." Unexpectedly, Terri felt her emotions swell. She hadn't spoken about her mother for over twenty years. However, despite the feelings stirring just below the surface, Terri didn't want the sympathy or pity that she sensed from her friends. She just wanted to get her story out, so that maybe they would understand. "I visited her at the hospital every day for three weeks. Every visit, she and my father both kept telling me she was going to get better and be home soon. She died three days before my sixth birthday."

Sully nodded absently. Last October, they had thrown Terri a surprise birthday party down at McGinty's. About half of the 55th was there, along with a generous sprinkling from several of the other precincts. Although Terri put on a happy face, Sully had gotten the vibe that birthdays weren't really Terri's thing. Now he understood why. He looked over at his partner.

Davis suddenly realized his jaw had been clenched and he relaxed. Terri telling them of her loss had inadvertently triggered memories of his own. Although he had been older than six when his father was killed, Davis still knew the pain and confusion a child felt with the loss of a parent. He had always sensed a connection beyond that of their police relationship. Now he understood.

"After my mother's death, I had a really hard time. I was sure everything and everyone I knew would leave me, like my mother did. And to be fair, I'm sure it wasn't easy for my father either, but to his credit, he made me feel as if I was the most important thing in his life. He would rarely leave me. I went with him to his store in the city, and watch him while he worked. If he needed to go out of town for business, he would take me with him."

Terri took a quick swallow of coffee and rubbed some tears and sleep from her eyes. She'd made it through the origins of her story, which was the most emotional part. Now, she needed to get through the next part, which was going to be the most difficult piece of her back story puzzle.

"For the next few years, we were nearly inseparable. As I got older and more inquisitive, however, my father began to grow more distant. I started to ask questions about his work and he started making excuses for why I couldn't come with him anymore. He started leaving out of town on business all the time. As a kid, I thought whatever my father was doing was important and I was raised to enjoy my comfortable life and never ask questions about his business, so I just went along with everything and pretended to be ignorant. But as I got older, I got more bold wouldn't back down from his side stepping my questions. He began to shut me out completely.

"On one of the many nights my father was working late at his shop in the city, I thought I'd surprise him and bring dinner to him. When I look back, at the time I told myself I was just going to see for myself that what he was doing was legal, but I think deep down, I knew it wasn't. Either way, I guess I got what I wanted." The last sentence can out barely more than a whisper.

Terri stared down at her cup of coffee as she spun it slowly in a circle. "I'd spent most of my childhood at my father's shop. I could have walked it blind folded. When I got there, the store was dark, but I didn't think anything of it. I just started back toward my father's office. I was almost there when I heard a gunshot. I dropped the food and ran to his office. When I opened the door, I saw my father holding a gun and standing over the body of the man he'd just murdered."

Terri sensed the shock reverberating through everyone at the table, but she continued on, knowing if she stopped to answer questions or try to explain her actions, she may not have the strength to get the rest of her story out.

"I don't remember how, but somehow, I got home. Afraid of what my father would do to me if he came home and found me there, I packed up a few things, took all the money I could find and left that night. I took the train back into the city and found a seedy cash only hotel. For over a week I was afraid to leave my room, terrified that any minute, someone would come get me and take me back to my father. I'd only leave the room when I needed food, and even then, I'd go to the closest convenience store to get what I needed and be back in my room, with the dresser pulled in front of the door, before even I knew I'd been gone."

"How old were you?" Faith asked.

"Seventeen and very naive. It took me that first week away from home to realize I couldn't hide forever. I also realized I needed to start my life over, on my own, without my father. I found a crummy little studio apartment in the city, used my mother's name, found a job as a waitress and did my best to pretend I didn't have a father. For the first time in my life, I was completely dependent on only myself."

Terri closed her eyes and brought one hand to her forehead. Without opening her eyes, she continued. "About a month later, I received an envelope with five thousand dollars cash and a newspaper clipping about a police officer and his family that had been brutally murdered in their home. There was no return address on it, but I'm sure it was from my father. A few days later, I got another envelope with another five thousand dollars and another newspaper article. This one was about how the police had found the body of the man they suspected of the killings. Every week or so, I'd get another envelope with more cash and another clipping."

She laughed bitterly. "At the time, I thought he was paying me off for not turning him in, or that he was trying to show me that what he had done wasn't wrong. I considered going to the police, but after what I'd read and found out about the man my father had killed, a part of me understood why he had done what he'd done. So, I stayed quiet, and the envelopes kept coming. Still, I didn't want anything to do with my father or his money. I also knew someday I might need to really disappear, so I opened a savings account and put the money he sent me away, just in case. I've never touched it."

"So you've got a pretty good nest egg sitting in a bank somewhere," Sully said.

Terri shrugged. "One day, about a year after I moved into the city, a man came into the café I was working at. He was charming, good-looking and a big tipper. He introduced himself as Kyle Holladay. He came back again and again. Finally, one day, he asked to take me to dinner. I accepted."

Terri's head was pounding and her energy was all but exhausted. She closed her eyes again and held her forehead in her hand.

"Terri?" Faith put a hand on Terri's arm.

Terri looked at Faith and managed a weak smile. "I'm good. I'm spent, but I need to get this all out."

Faith nodded. "Well, just don't push yourself too hard."

Terri nodded and took a sip of coffee before continuing. "We started going out on a regular basis and our relationship got pretty serious pretty fast. Within a month, I had quit my job and moved in with him. I was young and stupid, but Ky treated me like a queen."

Bosco shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Terri noticed this, but continued. "We'd been living together for almost three years when I woke up one night and he wasn't in bed. When I went to look for him, I found him in the living room with my father, discussing business. My heart broke, and when I realized that he had been working for my father the whole time-" she shook her head. "Well, it was four years before, all over. I found my way to another seedy hotel and shut myself away again, but this time-" Terri stared down into the depths of her coffee cup. "This time it was different."

Terri shuttered at the thought of what she was about to say. She had buried things from her past so deep inside that there was a palpable pain as she brought them back to the surface. "I didn't want to start over again. I didn't have the strength to. Instead, I just stopped. I stopped eating. I stopped drinking. I stopped caring if I lived or died. I have no idea how long I stayed in bed. I drifted in and out of consciousness and had terrible nightmares. Each time I felt asleep, I prayed to God I wouldn't wake up."

Faith felt pain in her chest from watching the anguish on Terri's face. Not knowing what else to do, she put her hand on Terri's forearm and gave her a comforting squeeze.

Terri looked startled for a moment, as if she'd forgotten she wasn't alone. She looked down at Faith's hand, before covering it with her own and smiling sadly. "I could have used a friend like you back then, Faith. God knows things would have turned out different."

"Different than what?" Faith asked, gently.

"I was at my lowest and most vulnerable point when Kyle found me. I remember seeing him in my hotel room, like a dream. He held me and told me everything was going to be okay. When I woke up in the hospital a few days later, the doctors told me that I'd gone almost five days without food or water and if Ky hadn't found me when he had, I wouldn't have made it. It took me over week in the hospital to get my strength back. Ky was there every step of the way."

"I didn't want to have anything to do with him or his life style, but he was persistent, so I did the only thing I could think of to keep him away from me. I got a job with the Chicago Police Department."

"Being a cop didn't stop Holladay, did it?" Davis asked.

"If anything, it made him more determined," Terri said. "Kyle Holladay is everything you may've heard about him, and more. He is the only person I've ever met that can make the devil jealous with how evil and conniving he is, and yet be completely charming at the same time."

"I've got a quick question," Sully said. "How did you get past the background check at the CPD?"

"My father's true business was very well concealed by his antiques business. Also, I'm sure money changed hands to amend my medical records so my suicide attempt became the flu. So, the background check was completed and I got into the academy. Almost a year later, after I'd graduated the academy and started with the CPD, Kyle contacted me. He tried to convince me that the meeting he'd had with my father was about quitting the life and going straight. He told me he was making an honest living so he and I could be together and that he would never go back to his old life. I wanted so badly for this to be true, so I let myself believe his lie."

Bosco was watching the pain on Terri's face as she exposed this part of her past and he felt all the feelings of betrayal he'd felt melt away.

"Before I knew it, Kyle was slowly pulling me into his world. He kept giving me money and gifts and I knew it was because I was helping his dealers stay under the radar while, at the same time, I was giving info to the narc unit to help bust his competition."

Terri shook her head, disgusted with herself. "I guess I talked myself into it because I was getting drugs off the street, even if they weren't his. I was climbing the ranks in the CPD, and Ky's profits and control were soaring. Then one morning, I finally woke up and realized what I'd become. It had to stop, so I left Chicago and moved here. I started working for the NYPD about a year later."

Bosco noticed a shadow cross Terri's face as if there were more to this story, but said nothing.

"How did you pass the background check here?" Sully asked.

"I'd graduated in the top of my class at the academy and I had very high recommendations from my superiors at the CPD. As a personal favor, one of my captains called a friend of his at One PP and I got a job with no problem. When I started work here, I did everything as straight as possible, leaving my past back in Chicago."

"What happened to your father?" Davis asked.

"He was murdered five years ago. I went back just long enough to have a funeral and settle the few affairs my father had going. They made it looked as though someone broke into his store while he was there, and he was killed." Terri added bitterly. "One of those, 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' situations."

"I take it from your tone you don't agree," Davis said.

"Someone in my father's line of work isn't ever in the wrong place at the wrong time," Terri said.

"You didn't have anyone at the CPD look closer at your father's death?" Sully asked.

"The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to have the funeral and leave my past buried with my father." Terri shook her head. "I always assumed it was a rival dealer. I didn't even consider Kyle may've killed him to get back at me or to take over the business, until he visited me at the hospital tonight."

"He what?" Faith, Sully and Davis asked, almost in unison.

"When?" Sully asked.

"Just before you guys went back to work," Terri said.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Davis asked.

"Well, for one thing," Terri said. "I wasn't armed, but even if I was, I don't think I would've been able to stop him by myself."

"You were alone?" Sully asked.

"Yeah," Terri said. "He was only there about five minutes. Just long enough to let me know that he's here, in New York, and that he didn't really care for the fact that I left him."

Terri winced as a sudden pounding coursed through her head. Her hand shot up to her forehead. "Damn it," she muttered.

"Maybe you should go home and get some rest," Faith said, looking over at Bosco. "We can talk more about this tomorrow."

"I'm fine, really," Terri said. "My head just doesn't want to cooperate with me right now."

"Are you sure?" Sully asked. "We could do this later, after you've had a few hours of sleep."

"I have three days."

Bosco looked at her. "Terri-"

"Three days for what?" Faith asked.

"Kyle gave me three choices and told me I needed to choose by Friday," Terri said. "He left me a wallet containing a key card to a suite at the Peninsula and a key to a safety deposit box. I either choose to meet him at the hotel, or I go see what's in the deposit box."

"You said three choices," Davis said.

"Yeah," Terri answered. "If I don't choose to sleep with him or do whatever dirty deed he has in the box, he'll kill me."

Everyone at the table fell silent.

Terri looked down at the table. "Now, there are some options here," she said. "If it means getting Kyle off my back, I'm willing to meet him at the hotel."

"What? No way!" Bosco exclaimed. "Terri, you're not serious."

"No, that's a good idea," Davis said.

Bosco turned toward Davis with a look of complete confusion on his face. "Are you crazy? How could you possibly think it's a good idea to sleep with this guy?"

"I never said anything about sleeping with him," Terri said. "I just said I'd be willing to meet him."

"And you think that would satisfy a man like Holladay?" Bosco asked. "That smug bastard looked me right in the face and smiled at me. This guy doesn't want to 'meet'."

Terri slowly shook her head. "No, but I'm hoping I can get what I want out of him, before he gets what he wants out of me."

Faith understood. "And you think he'll talk to you without suspecting anything?"

Terri shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

Bosco was beside himself. He shook his head. "Are you crazy? You just said this guy's willing to kill you and you want to put yourself in a vulnerable position like that? No way."

"This is not your decision to make, Bosco" Terri said coolly.

"The hell it's not," Bosco said.

Terri's jaw clenched and she closed her eyes again. She was obviously in pain.

Bosco watched her, feeling the pain on her face. "How do you know he's not planning something before Friday? Shouldn't we concentrate on finding him before then?" he asked. "Why should we play along with his game?"

Terri shook her head. "He's not going to be hiding. If we need to find him, we'll be able to. As for playing along, I don't see any other option. I'm sure that he's planned on me trying to get around doing what he wants, so I think the last thing he'll expect me doing is exactly what he wants."

Faith could tell that Terri was pushing herself too hard. "Look, we've all got a lot to think about. Maybe we should all go home and get some sleep and we can talk more later."

Terri looked like she wanted to object, but then thought better of it and nodded. This had been a lot for them to process and they probably wanted to discuss a few things together, without her there. "Sure. I could definitely use some sleep."

"Come on. I'll take you home," Bosco said as he stood.

Terri got to her feet. "I hope you can understand why I haven't told you any of this before. I'm not exactly proud of who I was." She pulled a few bills out of her pocket and dropped them on the table. "I'll talk to you guys later."

They all said goodnight and Bosco turned and followed Terri out of the diner. Through the window, they all watched Bosco help Terri into his car and then get in himself.

As Faith watched Bosco's car pull away from the curb, she pushed a hand over her head, pulling any stray hairs out of her face. There had been a lot said in those last twenty minutes that had made her question how well she thought she knew Terri, or even if this was something she wanted to deal with.

Faith thought of Terri, not as a friend, but as a sister and to imagine Terri sharing her bed with the man she had just told them about was almost too much for Faith to deal with.

"Faith?"

She looked up at Sully. "Yeah?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

"No, sorry," Faith said.

"I was just wondering what you thought about all that," Sully said.

"I'm just trying to process it all right now, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Sully said. He sighed loudly. "It was before I met Terri that I first heard the stories that were going around about her, and I wasn't sure what to think, but now that I know her, I would've called anyone who told me that story a liar."

"Yeah, this is pretty crazy," Davis said. "I'd never guess that Terri was capable of those things she was talking about."

"Well, I'm more concerned about that Holladay guy and what he's capable of," Faith said. "I mean, if he's got the johnson big enough to visit Terri in the hospital knowing there's gunna be cops there, what else is he capable of?"

"You don't think he'll try something now that we know about him, do you?" Davis asked.

"How would he know if we know about him?" Sully asked. "Maybe he's holding Terri's past over her head like blackmail, or something."

Faith looked back down at her cup of coffee and shook her head. "God, this was one hell of a secret."

"Yeah," Davis said. "But can you blame her? I mean, what was she supposed to do? Come out and say, 'oh, by the way-'."

Faith shook her head. "I don't know what to do, or what to think."

"I don't think Terri kept this from us because she was trying to hide it from us," Sully said. "I've known Terri since she joined the NYPD. I know that she's not the person she just told us about anymore. She made a mistake, but I'm ready to forgive and forget and move on."

"Maybe," Faith said, only half listening. "You don't think Terri's health will be a factor in this whole Holladay thing, do you?"

"Her health?" Davis asked.

"Yeah. She has a concussion from that fall today," Faith said. "Do you think that'll hold her up at all?"

Sully shook his head. "I doubt it. She's never let anything affect her before. Remember when that skel stabbed her in the shoulder last year? She was back to work three days later locking up everyone in that guy's crew."

"Yeah," Davis said. "And that time she got Maced right in the face, but she tackled the perp and had him in custody before any of the other officers on the scene caught up with her."

"Well," Faith said. "I have a feeling this is going to be a little tougher for her to handle than dealing with skels and Mace."


	6. Chapter 6

Bosco looked over at Terri. She had her elbow propped up on the armrest and she was resting her head in her hand with her eyes closed.

They were on their way to Bosco's apartment. Terri had wanted to go back to hers, but Bosco convinced her, without much of an argument, to stay with him for the night. He wanted to watch over her on his home turf, just in case Holladay wanted to try something else tonight.

As he turned his Mustang into an open parking spot, Terri stirred. She opened her eyes and looked around. "Are we there already?"

"Yeah," Bosco said.

Terri nodded sleepily. "Okay." She closed her eyes again.

Bosco smiled to himself. He climbed out of his car and walked around to Terri's door. He opened her door and leaned down so that he was eye level with her. "If you think I'm going to carry you up two flights of stairs, you're crazy."

Without opening her eyes, she said, "You can take the elevator."

"It's a walk-up. Get out of the car," Bosco demanded.

Terri slowly climbed out of the car and waited as Bosco got her bag out of the back seat. She felt a sudden wave of dizziness and tried to steady herself by holding onto the car door.

Bosco put an arm around her waist. "Whoa. You okay?"

"Yeah," Terri answered. She tucked her arm through his. "I was just sitting too long."

Bosco pushed her door closed and started toward the stairs leading to the door of his building. "Let's get inside."

"Bosco?"

"Yeah?"

Terri looked like she wanted to say something, but then shook her head.

"What?" Bosco asked.

She shook her head. "Nevermind. Let's go inside."

Bosco looked at her for a second, before he turned back to the door.

A few minutes later, he opened his apartment door for Terri. She walked in and stood in the living room. Bosco closed the door, locked it, and walked over and set her bag down on the couch. He put his hands in his pockets and looked over at Terri.

"So, you can take the bed in the bedroom and I'll sleep on the couch." He gestured toward the kitchen. "I don't know what kind of food I have here, but you're welcome to anything. If you need anything else, I can run and get it."

Terri was barely listening to him. She had walked over to the window and stood, looking out at the city. There was a slightly pinkish tinge along the horizon, signaling that the sun was about to rise. One of her three days was gone and the second was about to start. She closed her eyes, thinking about everything that had happened in the last few hours, and the things that had led up to the events of today.

"Hey, you okay?"

Terri nodded, absently.

Bosco could tell she had something she wanted to say, but he didn't want to push her. He sat down on the couch, next to her bag, and leaned back, waiting.

Terri took a deep breath and as she let it out, all of her defenses, the walls she had put up to hold back her uncertainty and fear, came down. She didn't have the strength to put up a strong front anymore. "I'm a horrible person."

Bosco could tell it wasn't a question. "What? Of course you're not."

"I've done a lot of terrible things that have hurt a lot of people."

"What's got you talking like this?" Bosco asked. He got to his feet and stepped over to her.

Terri turned her head so that she was looking directly at him. Bosco watched as a tear rolled down her cheek. The bruise on her face had turned an ugly purple, but he was looking past that, into her eyes. There was so much pain there.

"If you really knew me," she said. "You wouldn't want to know me."

Bosco shook his head. "You know that's not true, Terri. Why are you talking like this?"

Terri closed her eyes and turned away from him. "I've tried so hard to forget, so hard to be a better person, to make up for all the wrong I've done, but now-"

Bosco put a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "Nothing's changed, Terri. You are a good person."

Terri shook her head. "I – I don't think -"

Bosco turned her around, so he could look her in the eye. "What? You don't think you're a good person? How many examples of the dozens of things you do everyday do you need to convince you that you are a good person? I'm sure you've done things you regret. Everybody has. You have to move on. Stop punishing yourself for the things you've done in your past."

"I'm afraid of my past, all right," Terri said, lowering her eyes. "And Kyle is a big part of my past."

Bosco was shocked into momentary silence. Terri had told them a lot of things tonight that had caused him to pause and reflect on the woman he thought he knew, but he had never heard her admit to being afraid of anything. She was always calm and collected. Unflappable in every situation he had ever seen her in. For her to come right out and say she was afraid was something he had never experienced.

Terri, misinterpreting his silence as disappointment, pulled away from him and took a step backward to the couch. Her head was pounding again and now there was a ringing in her ears. She slowly sat down and put her hands on her temples. Her face registered obvious pain. She started rifling through her bag. "Do you know what happened to those pills they gave me at the hospital?"

Bosco moved over to the couch. He pulled the bag away from her and sat down next to her. Almost instantly, Terri broke down. She buried her face in her hands and began to sob.

"Hey, hey," Bosco said. He pulled her into his chest. "It's okay."

"It's happening again," Terri said, her voice shaking. "Everything's falling apart."

"You're not alone this time, okay?" He knew it was just nerves and exhaustion talking, but it still bothered him to see her shaken like this. "We're all here to back you up. This isn't going to be anything like last time."

"I can't do this," Terri sobbed. "I can't."

"Don't worry about that right now, okay," Bosco said as he rubbed her back. "Let's just get through tonight, all right?"

Terri wrapped her arms around his neck. "He's never going away."

Bosco held her tightly in his arms as he said, "We'll get him, I promise."

Terri was silent for several minutes as she slowly calmed down and the tears subsided. "Back in my room, at the hospital, before he left, he said he wasn't willing to let me go." She held the back of his shirt tightly in her hands. "He kissed me and then he-" Her voice faltered.

"Oh, my God," Bosco muttered.

"He didn't hurt me," Terri whispered. "He just-" She pulled back and turned away. "And I didn't stop him."

Bosco shook his head, and cursed himself inwardly again for leaving her alone. "Terri, I am so sorry."

Terri turned back toward him. "Do you have any idea what that's like? Having the person I've spent the last twelve years trying to forget, touch me like that." She shook her head. "I can't do it. I don't know how to handle it."

Bosco turned her to face him. "So, what? You're just going to give up?" He shook his head. "No. If anyone can stop this guy, you can. I'll be with you every step of the way. All of us will. We can get this guy."

Terri closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "You don't know Ky like I do."

"I don't need to know him," Bosco said. He felt a lump in his throat. "I know what he's done to you. What he's still doing to you."

Terri heard his voice break and she looked up at him. "I need to tell you something. Something I didn't tell the others. I'd like you to keep this between you and me, okay?"

Bosco nodded slowly. He wasn't sure if he truly wanted to hear this.

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "When I left Chicago, I was three months pregnant."

Bosco was silent for a long time. He looked down at his hands. They were clenched in tight fists, his knuckles white. He slowly opened them and watched as color flowed back to his fingers. He re-clenched his fists and then opened them again.

He couldn't bring himself to look at her. He wasn't sure what part of what Terri had just told him bothered him more, whether it was the clarity of her relationship with Holladay or that this was just another layer of her past and he didn't know when it would end.

Terri watched Bosco closely. She'd known that this was going to be difficult for him to understand, but she knew that she needed to come completely clean with him, if he was ever going to understand her past and what drove her to make the choices she'd made.

"What happened to the baby?" Bosco asked reluctantly. He wasn't sure what answer he wanted to hear.

"I miscarried the week after I moved to New York." Terri felt tears in her eyes again. "It's was probably a good thing, though," she said, wiping the tears as they spilled over, onto her cheeks. "If Ky had found out about the baby, I'd have lost him then, so I suppose it was a blessing in disguise. At least that's what I always told myself."

Bosco looked in her eyes. "Terri, I need to know something."

Terri nodded in understanding.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of how he should proceed. He didn't want to offend her by being too direct, and yet he had to ask. "Was it truly a miscarriage?"

Terri felt like she'd been slapped in the face. This was not the type of question she'd been expecting. "What?"

"I mean, I don't care either way," Bosco said quickly. "But I don't want you to lie to me about anything anymore. I'll believe you, whatever you tell me."

Terri just stared. This was the part of her that she had buried the deepest. She felt physical pain just thinking of re-exposing this long dead memory.

Bosco was confused by her silence. He wasn't sure if it meant that she was trying to decide how to answer him, or if he'd gone too far.

She closed her eyes. As Bosco watched her tears roll down her cheeks, he felt a stabbing pain in his heart and he cursed himself inwardly for causing Terri this new pain.

Terri continued. "I had done some terrible things in my life up 'til then. When I found out I was pregnant, I felt as if I'd been given a second chance at life. I left Ky without telling him about the baby and came here. I was ready to start my new life, in a new city. And then, the pain began. It started slowly, barely noticeable at first, but it slowly got worse. I was still moving into my apartment, so I thought I'd been pushing myself too hard and I just dealt with it."

She stopped, took a few deep breaths, then continued. "I was just stepping into the elevator with the last of my things, when I was overcome by a sharp stabbing pain in my stomach. It was so strong that I lost consciousness. Luckily, someone found me and called for help. I woke up in the hospital a day later, and I could fell nothing but the emptiness inside of me. I knew I had lost my baby."

Bosco closed his eyes and shook his head. "Oh, Terri, I'm so sorry."

Terri shook her head. "Like I said, it was probably a good thing. Who knows what kind of life he'd have if he'd been born."

"He'd have a wonderful mother."

Terri took the hand that Bosco had placed on her cheek and pushed it away. "A wonderful mother? I don't think so."

Bosco put his hand back on her cheek and brushed a stray tear away with his thumb. "Well, I do."

Terri smiled sadly at him. "Thanks, Moe. I appreciate that."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments as they both thought about their conversation and what to say next. Bosco looked at Terri. He could see in her face that she was completely drained.

"Well, let's get you into bed. You could use a few good hours sleep." Bosco stood and stepped over to her and helped her to her feet. "Come on."

They walked into the bedroom. The mattress was bare, except for a few pillows at the head of the bed and a set of sheets that sat on the end. Terri smiled sadly to herself. "Didn't your mother teach you to make your bed in the morning before you go to school?"

"Yeah well, my mom wasn't exactly the domestic type," Bosco said. "These sheets are clean."

The two of them pulled the fitted sheet over the mattress and spread the second sheet over the top.

"I'll get you another blanket." He walked back out of the room.

Terri nodded. The small effort of making the bed caused her head to swim and she sat down on the edge of the bed. The second she sat, a wave of exhaustion passed over her. She pulled a pillow over and laid down. Within seconds, she was asleep.

Bosco came back into the room. He walked over to the side of his bed and sat down next to Terri. He gently spread the blanket over her. She didn't stir.

He stood and pulled a chair over to the side of the bed. He sat back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He was content on watching over her until she awoke.

* * *

"No!"

Bosco jumped out of his chair and had his gun in his hand before he realized what had woken him. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. His eyes rested on Terri. She was moving around and mumbling softly.

"Terri?"

She didn't answer. She was dreaming.

Bosco put his gun back into his holster and sat down on the edge of the bed. He put his hand on Terri's arm and shook it gently. "Terrisa," he whispered.

Her eyes flew open and she recoiled from his touch. "Get away!"

Bosco held up both his hands and backed up. "Whoa, Terri, it's okay. It's me."

"Bosco?" She appeared confused for a split second and then recognition washed over her face. "Bosco."

"Yeah," He sat back down on the edge of the bed. "It's me. You're okay now. You were just having a nightmare."

She nodded. She was still very pale, but as he watched her, Bosco could see color coming back into her cheeks.

Terri pulled herself into a sitting position and leaned back against the headboard. She stifled a yawn and looked around for a second and then asked, "How long did I sleep?"

He looked down at his watch. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and said, with a yawn, "About five hours. It's a little after eight."

"Did you sleep?"

He nodded. "Yeah, a little bit."

She looked at the chair next to the bed and looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "In that?"

He shrugged.

"Why didn't you sleep on the couch?"

"I wanted to be here in case you needed anything."

"And you couldn't do that from the living room?" Terri asked, a small smile creeping onto the corners of her lips.

Bosco realized he was being teased. "Look, next time I need to baby-sit you, you can sleep on the couch, okay?"

Terri smiled coyly. "You could've slept in the bed."

Bosco shook his head, and looked away. "I - I didn't even think about it."

"Liar, but I appreciate you being a gentleman." Terri patted his hand. "I'm going to take a shower." She stood and walked over to the bathroom door, and looked back at Bosco. "Want to join me?"

Bosco smiled, knowing he was being teased. "Towels are in the cupboard beside the sink. I'll make some breakfast."

* * *

The hot water slammed into her back and splashed over her shoulders. Terri stood under the water and let it and the warm steam wrap around her body. She was completely relaxed.

After she'd washed and rinsed her hair, she shut off the water, stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. Then she walked to the steamy mirror and cleared a circle with her hand.

Terri starred at her reflection. She looked tired and worn. The bruise around her eye was still an ugly purple, but the swelling was completely gone. The fresh bandage they'd put on for her at the hospital had gotten a little wet during her shower, but it was still in place, so she left it alone. She quickly dried herself off and wrapped the towel around her hair.

She could hear and smell breakfast being cooked in the kitchen and suddenly realized how hungry she was. She dressed quickly and went into the kitchen.

Bosco, his back to her, was standing next to the stove. The table had been set with plates and silverware and there was orange juice in two glasses. In the center of the table were two filled plates, one with toast and the other with bacon.

Bosco must have sensed her presence, because he turned his head around and smiled at her. "Hey. How was your shower?"

"Just what I needed, and then I smelled breakfast." She walked over and stood beside him. She looked into the pan and saw he was just finishing six eggs over easy. "How many of us are eating?"

"Just us and I hope you're hungry," Bosco said. He turned the stove off and carried the pan to the table. He put three eggs on each of the empty plates and then put the pan back on the stove.

He pulled a chair out for her. After she was seated, he sat down across from her. "Do you want anything else?"

Terri shook her head. "This is more than enough." She took a few strips of bacon and two pieces of toast and laid them on her plate. "You really went all out, didn't you?"

Bosco shrugged. "I was hungry." He took a bite of toast. "So, what are we going to do today?"

Terri swallowed the eggs she was chewing. "I want to go talk to the guy from the store. See if he can tell us anything useful."

"Do you think you're up to working?"

Terri glared across the table at him.

He raised a hand. "Sorry." Bosco bit into a piece of bacon. "You know you're gunna catch heat from Swersky if you go into work today."

Terri shrugged. "I'm still going in. I need to talk to that guy." She set her fork down on her plate with a soft clang and looked at Bosco. "I think I know him."

* * *

"Terri, what are you doing here? You should be in the hospital."

Terri stepped up to the front desk and rested her arms on the counter. "Come on, Lieu. You know me better than that. Me, in a hospital? I don't think so."

Lieutenant Swersky crossed his arms over his chest, and gave Terri his best fatherly glare, knowing full well that it would do no good. "You're the most stubborn girl I've ever met," he said. The corners of his mouth turned up in a small, almost imperceptible grin. "But I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks, Lieu," Terri said.

Swersky turned to Bosco. "What are you doing here? I know you're back on today but not for another five hours. It's not like you to be on time, let alone early."

Bosco opened his mouth to respond, but Terri spoke first.

"We were hoping we could have a chat with the guy Yokas and I collared yesterday," Terri said.

"What for?" Swersky asked. "I thought he was in for shoplifting."

"We just want to see what he knows about Terri's accident," Bosco answered. "We have him on tape, sticking Terri with a needle."

"He what?" Swersky looked at Terri.

Terri put up a hand to calm him. "I found it later, after you'd come and gone. It was a clean needle, filled with just enough insulin to make me pass out, but still look like an accident. I'm fine. No lasting effects."

"Other than that shiner and a few stitches," Swersky said. "Do you think he did it to you on purpose?"

"That's what I'd like to talk with him about," Terri answered.

Swersky looked at both of them. "Are you two going to behave?"

"Come on, Lieu," Bosco said. "You know us."

"Yeah, I do," Swersky said. He sighed loudly. "All right, you can go see what you can find out."

"Thanks, Lieu," Terri said. She and Bosco started up the stairs.

"Hey, Swensen," Swersky called after her.

She looked back at Swersky. "Yeah?"

"You look like hell."

Terri smiled and waved a hand at him. "Thanks, Lieu." As they got to the top of the stairs, Bosco took her elbow and pulled her to the side.

"I don't think you should go in there by yourself," he said. "Let me just stand in with you."

"I want to talk to him alone, Boz," Terri said. "You'll be three seconds away if I need you, but I'm going solo on this one."

Bosco nodded, reluctantly. "You want me to do anything?"

Terri thought about this for a second. "Yeah, get me a copy of his jacket and find out who's in the cage with him. Oh, and find out if he's made any phone calls or had anyone visit him. I'm going to call in a quick favor."

* * *

"Homicide, Detective Roberts."

"Johnny B," Terri said, unable to keep a smile from her face.

Jonathan Roberts had been at the academy with her back in Chicago and they had hit it off immediately. Throughout the academy and well into their patrol officer years, they had helped each other out of binds time and time again. They had remained good friends even after her move to New York.

"Trademark, how the hell are you?"

"Doing well," Terri answered. She was pleased he recognized her voice, and that he called her by her academy nickname, given to her because of the initials of her first and middle name. "How are you? You staying out of trouble?"

"Ah, you know me. Just being the best civil servant I can be." There was a short pause. "So, it's been a while since I've heard from you. What's up?"

"Something's come up and I need a favor."

"Name it."

Bosco walked in just then and handed her the copy of the man's police file. He sat down across from her.

"I've got a guy in custody that I think used to run with Jack Kelly's crew. It was twelve years ago, and he was just a kid running numbers and acting as a look out," Terri said. "But I'm pretty sure it's him. I'm going to email you his mug shot and I need everything you can get me on him."

"You got it." Jonathan gave her his email address, and then he added, "Jack Kelly was gunned down about six months ago, so most of his boys are in the wind, but I'll see what I can get for you."

Terri handed Bosco the email she'd jotted down. He took it and the mug shot out of the folder and over to the scanner and computer.

"So how are you?" Roberts asked. "Really."

Terri sighed. "I've been better. I ended up in the hospital last night after a tussle in a grocery store. Cracked my head open on a shelf and got seven stitches for my trouble."

"Damn. Were you on the job?"

"Yeah. This guy I'm calling you about, he stuck me with a needle filled with insulin. Not your typical street weapon, but I want to know more about him before I go in there and start asking the wrong questions."

"So you think it was a set up for you?"

"I'm pretty sure," Terri said. She hesitated before adding, "Kyle paid me a visit yesterday."

The line was silent for a few moments, and then, "That bastard. Do you think these two things are connected?"

"That's what I want to find out," Terri said.

"Okay, I just got that mug and this is definitely one of Kelly's boys. I think his name is Ken or Kevin something, let me put you on hold for a second, 'kay?"

"Sure," Terri said. She pulled the phone away from her mouth and turned to Bosco. "Who's in with him right now?"

"Wild Willie," Bosco answered. "Somebody picked him up for D & D last night."

William H. Openshaw was a divorced investment broker who frequented many a New York bar and was a regular occupant of one of the cells at the five-five. Terri had arrested him quite a few times for drunk and disorderly herself, and she'd formed a strange friendship with the man everyone else called "Wild Willie".

She nodded. "Good, he can do us a favor. What about phone calls or visitors?"

Bosco shook his head. "Riley's working the cage and he said our boy hasn't made a sound all night, and no one's even called about him."

Terri nodded. "All right, go pull Willie out and bring him in here. Rough him up a bit, but just for show. I want his roomie to get an idea what he's in for."


End file.
